Make IT Simple in 2010

December 23rd, 2009 by Valerie Barber

Here’s a New Year’s resolution for CIOs and IT managers: reduce the complexity. While some complexity is inherent in IT, some is self-created and can be reversed. Ron Ashkenas, author of Simply Effective: How to Cut Through Complexity in Your Organization and Get Things Done has identified four problems IT faces that can be targeted to reduce complexity:

1. Inefficient organizational design: consolidate overlapping functions and tools; determine whether functions can be outsourced; evaluate managerial layers – can they be reduced and spans of control increased?
2. Product and service proliferation: can products be decommissioned to free resources to newer products and services; are products and service offerings prioritized for support, are new apps and products and features successfully integrated?
3. Unmanaged process evolution: identify core processes that are mission-critical, set metrics and a simple dashboard for transparency; streamline governance processes fro security, risk management and budgeting
4. Unintentional managerial behaviors: clearly convey strategic vision and goals to align IT with the company’s goals; ensure meetings are well-planned and well-run with clear goals and outcomes; reduce the size and complexity of presentations

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