31 years ago, one of the purposes that motivated the creation of Asesoftware was to enhance the work of system engineers, and therefore, the technology areas within organizations. Many things have changed over these years.
On the one hand, it is no longer just system engineers who manage the technology areas of organizations. On the other hand, this area has shifted from merely supporting operations to being a source of differentiation, competitiveness, and even revenue.
Today, for example, marketing departments are using mobile technologies to improve customer service. Financial risk areas are using analytics to determine patterns of fraudulent behavior. Operations are discovering the potential of the Internet of Things to improve supply chains or perform predictive maintenance. This is a paradigm shift that modifies both the role of the technology department and the person in charge of leading it, as well as the capabilities and skills
This implies that technology managers should not be behind the business in supporting the operation. What’s more, they shouldn’t even keep up. They should be ahead of the business and have a complete strategic vision of the potential of digital technology, the IT systems that will make it possible, and the changes that organizations must make to implement it, as mentioned by Bill Goodwin in an article published in SeaCH Data Center.
By having a panoramic view of technology, those in charge of this area must assume a role of business leadership and thus be able to transcend beyond their department and get involved with all areas of the organization.
Doing this means stepping out of the technical sphere, moving from being technology experts to translating business needs into technological capabilities, interpreting the latter into business benefits. To achieve this, the new skills of these leaders include building good relationships with their peers, the ability to form appropriate teams, and building relevant technical skills.
The ability to generate good relationships with colleagues will translate into involvement in the business needs of other areas of the organization, providing appropriate solutions that they will ultimately manage themselves. Additionally, this will allow them to actively participate in defining the company’s strategy, truly turning their area into a business lever and generator of competitive advantages. Thus, they will work hand in hand with general management to develop new markets, new products, and new ways of doing things in the organization. Surrounding oneself with the right talent is another key skill of the person in charge of IT departments, as it requires having a capable team to face the challenges imposed by the business and provide value-added solutions.
Finally, the need to be constantly updated on the technical side must not be left behind, in order to make all the technological capabilities required to meet the needs of the business a reality.
In summary, the role of the technology areas and the role of those in charge of managing them have changed over the years, to the extent that they position themselves as generators of competitive advantages, business enablers with the capacity to generate income, and leave behind the reactive role of simply providing support for the operation.
