Strategy Is Not Enough - Eight Common Technology Capabilities

Eight Common Technology Capabilities

There is no definitive list of technical capabilities that an IT organization needs. Capabilities will vary based on the business strategy you’ve put in place. What follows is a list of eight common technology capabilities, but there are many others.

It’s important to remember that it could be detrimental to try to excel at more than three or four capabilities. It’s acceptable to be at the industry average in others. Use this list as an example of how to determine and define capabilities. Modify it to fit your enterprise and industry, and come up with a few capabilities of your own.

Operational: Expert in operating systems, networks, data centers; scaling them efficiently while appropriately managing risks

Development: Expert in leveraging the appropriate technology to code and deploy complex systems

Innovative: Expert at introducing technologies and processes

Project Management: Expert at managing and delivering complex projects within budget and timeframe

Architectural: Expert in designing reliable, scalable and extensible applications and systems

Data Management: Expert at collecting, managing, organizing and providing access to data

Process: Expert in establishing and managing operational and business processes

Agile: Expert in reacting quickly to the changing technical/business environment

Richard Brennan is a managing director in Tipperary Partners, a Denver-based technology strategy and advisory firm.