Industrial Automation Magazine India

Silo rivalries are highly toxic

Published on : Saturday 19-10-2019

Digitalisation is imperative but enterprises are still struggling with implementation. How can begin the process?
First step would be to identify the small win projects with high impact and low turnaround time (early success is key).

Next step would be to take C Level commitment and buy-in. This should be followed with identifying or hiring the right mix of talent who are innovative thinkers and challenge the current status. Basically, they would help bring in the agility and change with right culture.

Last but not the least is communication at every level in the organisation for maximum participation and active involvement in bringing the change.

For many organisations, the stumbling block is the silos, which ironically, digitalisation seeks to break. Is this a classic chicken and egg story?
Silo rivalries are highly toxic.

Customer experience data in one place, performance data in another, security data in yet another, etc., are serious business problems. Breaking down data silos enable more effective decision-making and increased likelihood of success with digital.

A business which has all its departments working towards a singular goal or common objective is unstoppable.

Departmental silos suck the energy out of the company that’s needed for digital success. Data silos represent an equally significant barrier to success with digital transformation. Data silos are a byproduct of departments guarding their data such that no one has the big picture. Add to this the impact of technology silos which makes situation chaotic and worse.

Breaking down and rebuilding the structure of an organisation is not an easy thing to achieve. But by using the right strategy to break the silos businesses can begin to change their company mindset and structure. Typical factors would be communication, alignment to clearly defined expected outcomes and goals, incentivising achievement of common goals.

Is joining one of the digital platforms the only way for an average enterprise?
If we talk about an average enterprise, joining one of the existing digital platforms would be prudent. It does not make sense building your own platform when you can better harness the readily available ones. All platforms are not created equal. These platforms are different in how they enable interactions, openness, growth dynamics and monetisation methods.

A successful platform is more about making the right trade-offs than it is about best technology. To understand these tradeoffs you must have a good grasp on what kind of platform you need and which platform best fits your requirements.

Often, companies get bogged down in discussing technologies rather than outcomes. How should an effective CTO deal with this?
With digital transformation becoming a sought-after change across industries, CTOs now tend to be responsible for a large fraction of a company’s resources and budget, used to execute on a company’s transformation strategy. Thus CTOs now are not only responsible for internal tools and technology development, but also for the creation of new business models and digitised products. This means becoming a strong partner for the CEO to help create and execute the firm’s strategy based on where the digital wave is and where it is going.

CTOs are now the chief transformation officers, and this shift requires them to stretch beyond the tasks of monitoring technology performance, assuring reliability, and managing a lean operation.

CTOs now have better insights of how technology is evolving, what the competition is doing, emerging threats from new disruptive technologies and opportunities to create new value from new technologies. This puts them in a unique position to lead the C-suite’s thinking on many important issues. This includes creating a robust roadmap for the business and tackling challenges such as when to delay adoption of a new technology like blockchain in order to improve RoI, and when to invest in technologies like AI to develop core differentiating capabilities and new revenue sources.

CTOs are customers’ voice. Focus on creating customer value rather than just cost savings. Priority should be to remain relevant ensuring great customer experience and yet be profitable. Put key customer outcomes at the center while measuring IT teams and vendor metrics.  

The number, nature, and layers of technology touch points are ever increasing. They are increasingly complex and are becoming more integrated into the overall results of the business. CTOs hence need to integrate and not just build.

CTOs should build effective operating models addressing organisational challenges around operational inefficiencies, ambiguity on accountabilities, low cross-divisional and cross-functional integration, and increased/sustained operating risks.

Finally, is multiplicity of vendors creating conflict in the process?
The enterprise IT environment has become more complex with the rise of new hybrid technologies and services, which are provided by increasing number of suppliers. The challenge for CIOs is to get their multiple suppliers to work together effectively and overcome the complexity of governing them uniformly.

The rise in technology adoption worldwide has driven digital transformation initiatives across multiple industries as they look to improve the user experience. This has accelerated the deployment of new technologies from numerous vendors and service providers. End-users and customers demand that data be available anytime and anywhere with zero downtime.

Multisourcing do bring in challenges. However they can be managed with strong governance. This can either be done inhouse if team structure and expertise permit or simply by fully outsourcing it to an MSI (3rd party Multisourcing Service Integrator).

Amit Phadke is a senior executive with over 21 years in international IT management, with roles ranging from Head IT to Global Group CISO. Currently working as Group Head – IT Operations, Cloud and Security at Western Union. Earlier held several regional and global digital and IT leadership roles at Accelya, Bharti Axa Investment Managers, Bharti Airtel Limited, Comsat Max Limited, Bharti British Telecom. Amit holds Masters in Information Management from Mumbai University and has industry recognition and accolades like CIO100, CISO100, CIO Powerlist and many more.

The views expressed here are personal. Part contents are sourced from various conference materials, websites and personal experience.