The Accidental CIO

1Why We Need to Change The System

It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.

—Leon C. Megginson on Darwin's On the Origin of Species

It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.

—W. Edwards Deming

The techniques that worked so extraordinarily well when applied to sustaining technologies, however, clearly failed badly when applied to markets or applications that did not yet exist.

Clayton M. Christensen, The Innovator's Dilemma: When New Technologies

—Cause Great Firms to Fail

The strategic role of IT has increased greatly in the last number of decades due to the impact of digital technologies at both a business and a social level. The old model of IT as a support center or an order taker is outdated in today's complex digital business world, where pace, adaptability, creativity, innovation and collaboration are fundamental to succeed in both existing and new business endeavors. This requires a new IT operating model. One that can contribute to digital exploration and the discovery of new opportunities but at the same time can maximize and exploit the performance of an incumbent business model.

This chapter begins with an examination of the impact that new technology, rising customer expectations, and an adaptive competitive set have had on the business landscape ...