IT organisations can face failure for various reasons, and one significant factor is the adoption of so-called "industry best practices" by individuals who may not have the practical experience or understanding of the specific IT challenges.
It is important to acknowledge that while industry best practices can deliver valuable guidance, they must be tailored to the unique needs and circumstances of each IT organisation. It is important we do not follow these specific practices without considering the specific context. Below are a few best practices IT should approach with caution.
Indeed, it's positive when a proposed project generates a positive financial return on investment independently. However, in today's landscape where IT is seamlessly integrated into every aspect of the business, the lesson on ROI is clear: the traditional approach to IT decisions must be reversed. Information technology is no longer evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and what warrants case-by-case consideration is manual intervention.
Defining projects in terms of software delivery can be challenging if the software does not perform what business management needs it to do. In this case, one is in a position to argue that it does exactly what the business required it to do.
Cloud computing is not considered to be a strategy on its own. Treating it as a strategy presupposes the conclusion that every application should be hosted in the cloud, rather than making it a decision about your technical architecture.
A robust technical architecture should be framed in terms of services, which represent what you need. While the cloud may be an ideal means of provisioning some of these services, it is one form some of your needed services might take.
Multitasking reduces productivity and quality while increasing stress in the attempt to accomplish more. The best way to have someone complete their task well is to allow them to finish what they’re working on before moving onto another task. Every time people go back and forth from one task to another, they waste time switching mental gears.
When business departments independently handle their IT needs, it can lead to unfavorable outcomes. Business departments resort to do-it-yourself (DIY) efforts because the IT department often lacks the manpower to address the typically smaller-scale business issues that shadow IT takes on. Therefore, IT is in awkward position of forcing business departments to do everything in Excel.
Source: CIO News
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