Why IT Pros Give Tech Transformation a Weak Grade

Few front-line technology workers give their companies high marks for adapting to new, transformative tech, according to a recent survey from Business Performance Innovation (BPI) and Dimension Data. The resulting report, "Bringing Dexterity to IT Complexity: What's Helping or Hindering IT Tech Professionals," indicates that most organizations haven't even begun to transform IT—or are just getting started. A major sore spot: A lack of collaboration and/or alignment with the business side, as most tech staffers said business teams wait too long to bring IT into critical planning processes. This, combined with a lack of funding and other resources, results in tech departments spending too much time on legacy maintenance and far too little on essential advances that bring value to the business. "Instead of ushering their companies into a new age of highly agile innovation, IT workers are hindered by a growing list of maintenance tasks, staff cutbacks and aging infrastructure," according to the report. "All the while, growing tension between IT [staffers] and their business colleagues has proven a roadblock to the type of communication that fosters collaboration, innovation and true IT transformation. … The business and IT teams should meet in ongoing cross-functional teams that analyze business needs, existing capabilities, desired improvements, and the technologies, skills and funding needed to achieve mutual goals." A total of 200 front-line IT workers from around the world took part in the research.