Creating a business-led ICT strategy
By Clive Ryan, Director, Advisory Services

At eircom Advisory Services, we work with quite a number of companies who have reached a critical stage in their development. Although they know what kind of organisation they want to be in five or ten years' time, they have suddenly realised they lack the resources to get there. Frequently, they have an appreciation that their ICT platform is part of the problem, and could be part of the solution. At Advisory Services, our clients are turning to us for guidance on exactly these kinds of strategic questions: how can I evolve my business, and what role does ICT have to play?

A good case in point is Blackrock Clinic, one of Ireland's most prestigious and successful private healthcare facilities. Our successful engagement with the Clinic has has outlined a long-term, business-led ICT strategy, with clear and workable plans for implementation:

• The objective: recommend a technology infrastructure that would enable ongoing expansion plans and position the Clinic to introduce emerging and evolving healthcare ICT solutions, including remote assessment and diagnostic services..
  
  
• The current situation: our work entailed significant analysis of existing systems. These were already struggling to cope with rapid growth at the organisation and could not support the leading-edge services that would attract and retain the Clinic's primary clients: its medical consultants.
  
  
• The strategy: the 10-year Enterprise Technology Infrastructure Strategy (ETIS) we recommended encompassed the Clinic's current and future service and business aspirations and links to the Galway Clinic and the Hermitage Clinic. The ETIS also identified how change should be executed and achieved; what the logical transition states for the project should be; and how future changes might impact on business technology governance at the Clinic.
  
  
• The outcome: "The ETIS output, recommendations and conclusions gave the Clinic a business context as to why we need to invest in the infrastructure," explains John Hayes, Head of IT, Blackrock Clinic. "This provided a necessary framework guiding how our ICT infrastructure should evolve, which will enable us to embrace future developments. It also helped us to communicate with, and get the critical buy-in of the senior business management within the Clinic."

Is ICT always the answer?

ICT is not a cure-all, and historically large-scale ICT implementations that were undertaken without a wider view of the business context did not deliver anticipated benefits. However, it would be wrong for management to view ICT negatively against this backdrop. Our research indicates that today's most high-performance businesses treat ICT not as a cost, but as a strategic asset, a critical contributor able to improve business value and performance.

Our Advisory Services experts help top management adopt this mindset, and use ICT to improve operational excellence and competitive advantage. Our professionals are experienced with bold, value-creating approaches to ICT, bringing boardroom-relevant criteria to technology investments and helping enterprises to "think bigger" about ICT's ability to improve business performance. Our analysis of existing operations typically also highlight non-ICT resource issues that management should address to move from their existing environment to their target environment - our recommended action points include these, giving management a complete "route map" for the road ahead.

How could we help you realise your strategic vision? For more information on how we could productively engage with your enterprise, contact us today.

I would like to email eircom now on this article , EHeaney@eircom.ie