Tasked with accelerating business innovation, technology leaders are swapping traditional IT project management for continuous delivery and iteration of software and services. But to succeed CIOs say such emerging models of IT deployment require strong collaboration with business stakeholders, as well as cross-training.
“I believe that this is no less than a complete cultural shift for IT,” says Rebecca Jacoby, Cisco Systems senior vice president of operations, speaking on a panel at the CIO 100 Symposium earlier this week. “What’s required is moving at exponential speed compared to what we have done in the past.”
The “past” Jacoby refers to includes a phased IT service delivery lifecycle, in which business leaders dump a fat booklet of product requirements into the lap of CIOs, who spend anywhere from 12 to 24 months building software. But in a world where consumers are accessing data online and through mobile applications, this we-ask-for-it-and-you-deliver-it-when-it's-done model will not suffice. Business requirements change rapidly to account for fickle consumers' shifts in preferences in features and functionality. Today, frequent iteration is prized over finished product, forcing companies to rethink how they deliver software.