The Strategic Orientation of the IT Shop

by Gabriele Piccoli, Senior Consultant, Cutter Consortium

It is the norm today for the IT shop to be, or have the potential to be, a boundary-spanning function. Organizational theory has long recognized that within the firm there are areas whose focus is mostly internal (e.g., manufacturing and operations) and others whose role is to connect the organization to its outside environment, exchanging information and resources (e.g., R&D, marketing).

The IT shop has traditionally served mostly an internal role, dating back to the days of the electronic data processing department where individuals in white lab coats held the key to a secure area where the company computers were housed. Much has changed since then, with IS professionals today, more often than not, holding the virtual key to the firm's store and many of the delivery and support services the firm offers. More generally, IT today plays a key role in enabling the boundary-spanning functions of the organization. I'm sure nowadays, since the proliferation of blogs, social networking sites, and the like, the public relations (PR) department, perhaps the epitome of the boundary-spanning function, couldn't imagine hiring a PR person who is not well versed in the use of IT to enable the department's work in these new areas.

Beyond the proliferating examples of other areas becoming increasingly dependent on IT, to understand the evolution of the IT shop into a boundary-spanning organizational function, we need to focus on the role that IT plays today in the value proposition of the firm, both from a product and a service standpoint. There are many examples here, but let me highlight one that stems from my most recent case on a growing startup called TripIt. TripIt is a travel organizer, an agent of the traveler, not a travel agent. Thus, TripIt is not a booking site but rather a place you go to when you need to manage your trip. At TripIt (check it out if you travel a lot; you will thank me), IT is evidently embedded in both the value proposition and the support around such proposition, much of this support increasingly provided by other TripIt users as the firm grows its social networking component. Thus, IT issues, challenges, and most of all opportunities are inseparable from product, operations, marketing, and delivery considerations. TripIt is, of course, a cutting-edge Web 2.0 San Francisco startup focused on providing an innovative information service, but with the growing role of software in all organizations and the fact that the Internet today is a normal part of life, TripIt is more of a harbinger of things to come that should be studied, rather than an oddity to be dismissed.

The increasing boundary-spanning role of the IT shop brings many opportunities, but the increasing pressure put on IS professionals to engage with the environment is a mixed blessing. More important perhaps, just because historically there has been a move toward IT as more of a boundary spanner, it does not mean that this trend applies to (or is optimal for) your own organization. While the trend is real, how quickly your IT group should adapt, and how, requires attention.

I welcome your comments on this issue of the Cutter Edge and encourage you to send your insights on the market in general to me at gpiccoli@cutter.com.

-- Gabriele Piccoli, Senior Consultant, Cutter Consortium