| | December 20148CIOReviewopinionin myHP Software ProfessionalServices Help CIOs Build a "Change-Resilient" BusinessNot long ago, I talked to a CIO who was spearheading his company's cloud implementation. Nine months into what was expected to be a 12-month project, not a single workload had been fully migrated. But it wasn't the technology that was standing in the way; the implementation team was confident in their choice of hardware, software, and services to support the effort. Instead, his team had hit a roadblock when they attempted to gain company-wide consensus on a governance policy for cloud services. The CIO said, "I know how to implement systems, but changing processes and roles across the business is new to me. It's harder than I expected." For businesses, embracing emerging technology--including mobile apps, collaboration, social media, big data analytics, or cloud--means more than learning to use a new system. In most cases, the new technologies herald a new way of doing business, which requires new operational processes, governance policies, communications methods, financial systems, and organizational structures. IT departments are shifting from managing assets to delivering services. Line-of-business managers are inserting themselves into the technology procurement process. Success is measured on business outcome, not component-level performance. On top of it all, the relentless pace of technology disruptions means that, to survive and thrive, businesses must develop a culture of agility, responsiveness, and innovation. In other words, the business must be prepared to continually adapt to change, but change is easier said than done. Resource-constrained IT leaders who are on the front lines of technology-driven transformation may be ill-prepared to implement the new environment while still supporting the old environment. In a 2014 Frost & Sullivan survey, 45 percent of IT leaders cited "concerns about changing roles of IT employees" as a top restraint to transformation; 49 percent were concerned about "lack of in-house expertise." However, help is at hand. HP is among technology service providers who are stepping forward with professional services designed to help transform IT departments. HP Management of Organizational Change service goes beyond the selection and implementation of a new technology platform, and instead helps CIOs and other business leaders implement a culture of change within the business. Learning to TransformIn many organizations, the catalyst for transformation is the cloud, which provides a foundation for new technology solutions. In implementing a cloud strategy, the IT department is likely to forge a new and closer relationship with line-of-business colleagues, which requires new processes and metrics for evaluating requests. Similarly, IT may begin to treat internal clients more like external customers; for example, offering service level agreements. The IT department may have to reassess governance policies for software procurement, and introduce new usage-based cost allocation methods. Furthermore, visionary business leaders understand that change will continue long after the cloud platform is installed. Technologies will be superseded, processes must be adjusted, and markets will change. To be an agile business means to be prepared for constant change.This is the domain of organizational change management, By Lynda Stadtmueller, VP-Cloud Services, Stratecast, Frost & Sullivan
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