Leading organisations are grappling with digital and the impact it is having on their businesses. Whether they are looking to grow revenue, increase customer loyalty, reduce cycle times or dramatically reduce costs, technology is most often at the centre of the business strategy. The digital revolution is changing the demand on IT, driving new ways of thinking and working, and the need for a new kind of IT strategy which meets these demands.
Further to this, IT is fast moving from providing support to businesses to helping drive businesses forward. Not only has IT moved from a being a passive support function to an enabler of growth in recent years, it is now becoming the powerhouse of growth. As the IT strategy increasingly sits at the heart of the business strategy, so the role of the CIO is fundamentally beginning to shift.
The traditional requirement of an IT function remains the provision of a stable, cost-effective suite of services to ‘keep the lights on’. However, the ongoing drive to move more of the IT estate to the cloud, including use of infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and software-as-a-service (SaaS) for core functions, is changing the focus of IT service provision to management more by outcomes (service and supplier management), than inputs (specifying and building IT systems and infrastructure from scratch.) There is, however, also a key component relating to which services to retain in-house, to maintain control and direction over the technical direction.
IT functions need to be able to manage this transition to new core technologies, retaining flexibility and agility to adapt to the immediate demands driven by the digital revolution. They also need to recognise the new skills and organisational capabilities which this shift in focus demands. This is creating a need for bimodal IT functions: one mode to manage the slower changing, traditional components of IT; and another, more agile mode to address immediate, disruptive, digital business demands.
Some of the common questions we hear from our clients include:
How should our mix of internal IT capabilities and external IT services change to address strategic issues including business growth, speed to market, cost competitiveness and innovation?
Is our current portfolio of applications and infrastructure scalable for future growth initiatives?
How do we better align our business and IT capabilities to meet our company's desired future?
How do we make the right choice regarding future IT-platform technologies?
How do we define the right level of outsourcing and select appropriate partners?
How do we prepare the IT landscape to provide better support for cross-border business processes, or establish a shared services centre?
How do we plan the implementation of change and define an appropriate roadmap?
Do our current governance and funding models encourage incremental projects and minor improvements at the expense of strategic technology- enabled initiatives which drive improved business benefits?
How do we leverage new and emerging technologies to deliver a better customer experience, develop new products and services, and to simplify and automate internal operations?
How do we realise synergies in IT following a merger?
Effective IT transformation starts with a clear strategy, aligned to an organisational structure and operating model and great change management.
Henderton has the independence and collaborative style to work with you to deliver a transformation which is truly owned by your team, and best supports your business.
Through our work with international companies, supporting them with the development, design and implementation of their IT strategies, we offer a compelling combination of industry and business knowledge relevant to your sector, understanding of technical and business functions, technology (including digital) expertise and the transformational change know-how to make it all happen.
In addition, we work closely with key IT sponsors within business units, local IT departments and / or IT services in other corporate functions such as finance, HR and procurement.
We help CIOs, their senior teams and executives within the business to understand how best to move their IT strategy forward – and we work closely with them to get on and make it happen.
Technology will never stop evolving – with so many options in cloud computing, cybersecurity, specialised software, as well as emerging technologies like machine learning and artificial intelligence, blockchain and distributed ledger, and drones, a winning strategy based on differentiating capabilities is essential to create and sustain long-term value.
Having an innovation advisor on your side is vital: to tailor a strategy which fits, and to uncover the right tech for your organisation, regardless of the industry. Our technology consulting services help you steer your transformation with the latest technology, design thinking and agility, while also energising your legacy systems, all at a pace which is right for your business.
At Henderton, our experts can help you address a wide range of IT challenges, and we serve clients in all industries and among all relevant pillars of information management:
Digital strategy: review of the business strategy to link up technology blueprints and roadmaps, using both market and wider technology trends as the starting point, to develop an IT roadmap, IT architectures, transformation planning, business cases and resources planning.
Digital operating model: current state analysis and design of a tailored operating model, including changes in the way IT is delivered (for example from regional to global functional to product-centric, setting up IT as a shared service, changing sourcing strategy or capitalising on cloud-based services). Our work takes in organisational design, IT governance model, selecting and engaging suppliers and identifying new ways of working.
Digital architecture: transforming the system landscape into a flexible network of effective and efficient systems, and helping to fix the basics.
IT investment: assessment of the criteria used to prioritise IT investment and how investments are linked to improvements in the metrics of critical business processes and the approach to tracking the return on investment over time.
Capability assessment: assessment of organisation capability and process maturity – whether the IT function has both the business and technical skills to effectively deliver and embed the IT strategy.
Role and governance: review of the IT function as a strategic business partner, including options for structural changes to establish state-of-the-art governance mechanisms to effectively manage IT in digital ecosystems and establish a new relationship with business.
Project portfolio assessment: review and rationalisation of the IT project portfolio, focusing on value-driven analysis, ROI evaluation and TCO assessment.
Full IT review: IT business alignment, including IT strategy, governance and project portfolio, benchmark of IT spend and performance, health of the infrastructure, application portfolio and technology roadmap, identification of key risks, including security incidents, performance issues, resource constraints and legacy systems, master data management and quality.
Programme management: drawing on our expertise in change management and our experience of successfully managing complex IT transformations, we will work with you to turn your plans and designs into real beneficial change implemented across your IT function.
IT due diligence: technology plays an essential role in the full cycle of M&A activities — from pre-merger planning to post-merger integration. Issues encountered while integrating the IT functions of two disparate companies can significantly impact an acquisition's value and effectiveness. We assess IT systems, infrastructure and processes to avoid hidden liabilities.
If you would like to learn more about our experience, please contact our Technology practice team.
We bring a business-driven approach to maximise your technology investment. Our team, which includes advisors with more than 20 years’ experience of advising on technology issues across multiple industries in different countries, brings leadership and expertise to help turn strategy into execution and to overcome roadblocks to success.
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