Toomey also says it was once the case that IT specialists were heroes, working grossly excessive hours as they wrangled raw new technology into submission. Those days are gone — the technology now submits much more benignly, and the wrangling has moved from the technology arena to the business arena, where the new problem is the business use of IT.
Now, he says, everyone knows business depends “pathologically on IT” but too many business leaders are oblivious of their responsibility to use the tool properly and to thoroughly understand the constraints and to accept a level of responsibility. At the same time demands on every technician are far greater, forcing even the most low-level technical people to have an understanding of the business context in which they operate.
And, Toomey says, too many business leaders failed to consider the long-term consequences of their decision to downsize IT after Y2K and GST projects were completed, which has directly contributed to the current skills shortage and hence pressure on the industry.
“Bottom line: organisations are at risk not only from discontented IT workers, but from the broad negative messages that business gives to the marketplace about IT,” Toomey says. “Smart organisations will adopt practices that align with ISO 38500, the new international standard for corporate governance of IT, ensuring that they have the right mix and calibre of skills to ensure that their organisation performs as it should, with very clear understanding and quite deliberate attention to the myriad human behaviour factors that will underpin the performance.”
This version of the story originally appeared in CIO's print edition.
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