As digital transformation redefines how enterprises work, it is also redefining the future of IT. Teams that understand the benefits of DevOps and embrace a DevOps strategy will be better positioned to be seen as business leaders who are helping to guide their organizations in the future.
The evolution of IT
Traditionally, Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and IT teams were tasked with overseeing a company’s technology. The IT department is still responsible for everyday technology tasks, like keeping the network running and setting up email.
But the future of IT is changing. IT staff is now also responsible for helping to drive the strategic vision of the entire company. Everyone from the CEO and the board of directors down to individual departments now rely on IT to provide advanced data analytics, eliminate data silos, protect customer data, guide innovation, and help their organization transform data into a competitive advantage.
With technology being central to product development, service delivery and opportunity analysis, IT has a greater role in a company’s direction and, increasingly, the company’s future.
That’s where the benefits of DevOps and adopting a DevOps strategy comes into the picture. It can help to elevate the role of the IT team from technical experts to business leaders.
The benefits of DevOps
The IT department works with everyone from R&D and production to customer service, finance, sales and marketing to help them leverage digital transformation within each business unit. As a result, IT often has a holistic understanding of the goals of the wider organization and, perhaps more important, the strengths and weaknesses of each department. So while a company’s digital transformation might be led by an executive, it is driven by IT.
As CIOs and their teams take on more of a strategic role within the organization, understanding the benefits of DevOps and adopting a DevOps strategy will be key to success. In software development, the benefits of DevOps is that it unites development and operations for a shorter development time and more frequent product updates. DevOps is known for speed, collaboration and automation. Compared to a waterfall method of development where progress flows in one direction, one of the benefits of DevOps is that it can more quickly deliver a better product that is more relevant to a customer’s needs.
Like software development, IT can benefit from adopting a DevOps strategy. By using automation to free up staff time, IT can minimize the amount of time it spends on repetitive, mundane tasks and focus instead on more strategic initiatives. As the department most likely to coordinate with other teams in the organization, IT can take a DevOps approach to foster collaboration and eliminate silos between data and systems.
The future of IT: From tech expert to company leader
According to The Enterprisers Project, CIOs now have a much more prominent role in strategic business thinking. Notably, the future of IT requires that CIOs become more involved in their organization’s people strategy, such as collaborating with HR to improve employee experience.
The future of IT means that CIOs must continue to look at each project in light of the entire enterprise’s goals as they share in the responsibility for helping to drive business outcomes.
The time is now for CIOs and IT teams to leverage the benefits of DevOps by internalizing DevOps strategies and tactics as a cultural mindset, not just a technical approach. Inclusivity, collaboration and embodiment of the organization’s values are all crucial to helping IT understand the business goals behind a technical request.
The benefits of DevOps and adopting a DevOps strategy means that IT is better positioned to move beyond simply technical support to become a team of business leaders, unleashing their value for the entire enterprise. Learn how Verizon can assist in that effort by helping your IT department select the right digital transformation solutions for your business.
Julie Vance is Senior Manager, Product Marketing at Verizon.