Axsis Consultants Limited

Getting on and Taking Off

As you look at another bill for new hardware or software, or your staff complain that the system has swallowed the important customer information yet again, you feel that your Information Technology is under performing and under delivering.

Well, your gut feeling has been confirmed by a recent report Getting by, not getting on – Technology in UK Workplaces by The Work Foundation (formerly the Industrial Society). Many companies are in a state of low-tech equilibrium. The only reason they are not at a competitive disadvantage is that their competitors are in the same state.

Why does it matter?

IT is ubiquitous, although we can’t live with it, we can’t live without it. A computer on every desk is the norm and no business would claim an advantage by disposing of all its IT.

Technology by itself is of little benefit. Within the business, IT has to be in balance with your people and processes. Without that balance, people struggle bravely (with increasing levels of stress) to compensate for the inadequacies.

When technology is enthusiastically embraced by your staff and embedded in your organisation then it can achieve up to five times return on investment. The precise type of that technology is not the determinate, but how that technology is coupled to organisational changes.

What to do about it?

IT is like a car. To ensure that it is still steering straight and not poisoning people with its emissions it needs to be given a periodic MOT.

An IT MOT consists of a short sharp review to determine where technology currently fits within the business - assessing how IT interacts with the people and processes and how that combination aligns with the business aims. Armed with that assessment you can then devise corrective action.

In some cases that action might include more formalised manual operation as part of the process instead of trying to automate everything. For many businesses it is likely to include:

• A greater awareness of your staff’s technology skills and recognising those that increase their skills and help others to the benefit of the business
• An increased understanding of the business processes and more debate about how they can be improved and where technology can be most appropriately applied
• IT staff being engage more with the business and adopting a more active mentoring role rather than being IT guardians.

The review should not be elaborate. A short exercise once a year is more beneficial than a comprehensive study every three years. It can be conducted in-house, but like an MOT it is sometimes beneficial to have an independent opinion.

By getting more out of your IT investment your business will then be Getting on and taking off.


Nigel Wheatley - November 2003


(The Work Foundation report is available at www.theworkfoundation.com)