That is what we have always done
How many times have you encountered a “block” of a suggestion for improvement with a response of “That is what we have always done”? People are resistant to change, even in an innovative organisation dealing with the latest technologies. The reality is that the opportunities provided by technology and new tools are often hobbled and negatively impacted by inefficient processes and practices.
One of the biggest barriers to the uptake of new technologies and approaches is the status quo – organisations happy to stay doing tasks and processes that are inefficient and outdated. At one time, that process would have been ideal, but the world moves much faster than people are willing to accept.
Some of the most successful organisations in the world will rapidly change to embrace the opportunities provided by new technology and capabilities. Consider how long it takes Facebook or Google to release a new change to their products and services – they are successful not just because they work within the technology space, but also because they embrace change and are not afraid to drop last month’s great innovation in preference of a new capability.
This is what they have always done
If you have ever been involved in IT infrastructure between 2000 and 2010, you will probably have been part of a transition from Windows NT 4 domains into Active Directory. During this process, many organisations replicated the same architecture from NT into AD, keeping resource domains, local groups containing global groups, trust relationships etc – simply repeating the same design into the newer topology constructs. If you still work in this space, I hope you agree that some of these constructs still exist – and are still causing problems. This is Technical Debt.
Many businesses have paper processes that have been translated into IT systems – and the IT system is simply a like-for-like conversion of the paper forms and processes, even repeating inefficiencies and bottlenecks. I have a post all about designing input for a system that highlights the requirement to identify what actual business processes are needed for inputs and outputs.
When rolling out virtualisation capabilities, organisations would treat the virtual servers in the same way as physical – install a backup agent, install anti-virus, install monitoring agents, create VLANs on your switches, route networks through perimeter firewalls – etc.. Too many organisations are missing out on the capabilities offered by the latest technology (actually, scrap that – missing out on the capabilities that have been around for the last 3 years!).
Are you in an IT department that has a focus on “keeping the lights on” and maintaining systems in the same way as you have done for years? Is “break/fix” a primary focus for your IT team?
What to do?
So, if you are reading this far, you are probably looking for an answer. It’s not simply a matter of selecting the right product or technology, or following the latest market trends and analysis. Businesses need to re-think not just their usage of technology, but also themselves.
