Shifting To Next-Gen IT Operating Model for Better Value Proposition

An efficient IT operating model is crucial for any successful Application Managed Services. A well-designed operating model will make the best use of your resources by defining how to do so and maintaining a balance between process and technology. This will help you achieve an edge over the competition during times of hardship like COVID-19.

What Exactly Is An Operating Model?

An operating model is a strategic plan for an organization’s business goals. It shows where services are delivered, how they are managed, and who owns what. For instance, it tells you that IT is responsible for software and computers, while marketing organizes campaigns and helps create websites. This way, everyone can work together more efficiently with the same goal.

Understanding how an IT operating model fits with your company’s culture and values will determine the model’s success. It needs to be clear if the model promotes innovation and growth or if it stifles it and acts as a barrier to organizational development.

Implementing an IT operating model with the right mix of internal and external players takes time and effort. But in today’s organizations, businesses value tools like apps and software, which means these factors must be solved. The role of business teams in the model is also becoming more critical, and we’re seeing greater alignment toward a business-focused model.

The next-generation IT operating model is built on three key foundation blocks: 

1. A focus on the customer 

2. A culture of innovation 

3. An agile delivery model 

In this blog post, we’ll explore these foundation blocks in more detail and provide insights into how you can build them into your own IT operating model.

Traditional IT Operating Model and its Challenges

The traditional IT operating model is based on a linear, one-way flow of information and tasks. This model is efficient for certain types of work but doesn’t support the flexible, iterative workflows required for agile development. In addition, the traditional IT operating model needs to adequately address the business user’s needs. As a result, the business user often bypasses IT altogether, leading to silos and duplicate work.

The biggest challenge with the traditional IT operating model is that it needs to allow for adequate communication between IT and the business. Business users need access to information to make decisions, but they sometimes need to learn what information is available or how to get it from IT. As a result, business users often make decisions without involving IT, which can lead to sub-optimal outcomes.

Another challenge with the traditional IT operating model is that it can be inflexible and slow to respond to changes in business requirements. Because information flows in one direction only, from IT to the business, it can take a long time for changes to be made to systems and processes. This can cause frustration for business users who need changes made quickly to keep up with their competitors.

There are several ways that organizations can overcome these challenges and move towards a more agile and responsive IT operating model. One way is to create dedicated teams that focus on specific business areas. 

Benefits of availing Next-gen IT model

The next-gen IT operating model is a holistic, integrated approach to IT that enables organizations to deliver the agility, efficiency, and quality required to compete in the digital age.

By availing of this model, organizations can achieve the following benefits:

The next-gen IT operating model enables organizations to be more agile in responding to market changes and customer demands. By aligning IT with business goals, they can rapidly deploy new applications and services and make changes to existing ones more quickly.

This model helps organizations improve their overall efficiency by automating manual processes, eliminating silos between departments, and enabling better resource utilization. As a result, they can reduce costs and improve operational performance.

The next-gen IT operating model also improves service quality by aligning IT with business goals and customer needs. By doing so, organizations can ensure that their IT systems are able to meet the changing needs of their customers and business partners.

5 Key Building Blocks in Next-Gen IT Operating Model

1. Continuous delivery: In a Next-Gen IT operating model, continuous delivery is vital. This means that new features and updates are released regularly rather than in large batches. This allows for faster feedback and more frequent releases of new features.

2. DevOps: DevOps is a key part of a Next-Gen IT operating model. This approach enables collaboration between development and operations teams, resulting in faster delivery of new features and updates.

3. Microservices: Microservices is another crucial part of a Next-Gen IT operating model. This approach allows for loose coupling of services, which results in more flexibility and faster deployment of new features and updates.

4. Cloud-native: A Next-Gen, IT operating model, is typically cloud-native, meaning it is designed to run on a cloud platform such as Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure. This allows for greater scalability and flexibility.

5. ChatOps: ChatOps is a crucial part of a Next-Gen IT operating model. This approach uses chat tools such as Slack or HipChat to collaborate between teams and automate tasks.

Conclusion 

Digitization mandates that IT delivers three crucial aspects: increased quality, quicker time to market, and reduced costs. Adopting a product IT operating model helps IT meet the mandate by enabling a fail-fast way to deploy software without sacrificing quality. 

Partnering with an expert system integrator can help organizations get started digitizing their operations with fewer disruptions to their business. However, it’s something that takes time to be achieved. It must be underpinned by cultural change and continuous learning using tools such as design thinking-driven personas, alignment workshops, targeted campaigns, and communication.