IT-Strategy: 10 facts how agility supports your strategy

Agility could be a competitive advantage for each business. There for here are some facts how agility could support your IT strategy.

1. Infrastructure
– Your infrastructure should be flexible and scalable.
– Standardize your technologie is the goal.

2. Datamanagement
– Centralize your data management (single source)
– Use standardized interfaces to access the data.

3. Information logistics
– Use company-wide uniform defined key data (KPIs) and computational procedures.
– Separate your data from your applications

4. Management informationsystems
– Use informationsystems on each management level
– Be flexible for business requirements

5. Company-wide integration
– Use technologie kits (cf. LEGO) connecting your partner and distributors.
– Use standardize interchange formats.

6. E-Business ability
– Having scalable Webserver and CMS.
– Having a high security standard.

7. Communication systems
– Using integrative E-Mail and Groupware solutions
– Integrate your mobile systems and devices
– Using VoIP

8. IT-Governance
– Having a fast decision process oriented on your business strategy.
– Save ressources for short-term projects.

9. Enterprise Ressource Planning
– Using a coherent business logic.
– Optimize your processes.
– Avoid redundancies.

10. Loose coupling
– Use autonomous functional components
– Standardize your interfaces
– Separate the functionality and process logic

However!

IT-Agility is not for free. Flexibility is in contrast to cost optimization and performance optimization. It´s not necessary for each business or each business area. If cost and performance optimization is a competitive advantage, agility doesn’t greatly matter. This means that IT-Agility should be adopted in business areas, where flexibility and reactivity are the key factors. Have a look on your business strategy to adopt IT-Agility.