Jay Clemens
McKinsey & Co. has outlined the information technology agenda that businesses are likely to embrace in 2014 based on key challenges they faced during the past year.
Björn Münstermann, Brent Smolinski and Kara Sprague, principals at McKinsey, propose various tips that could enable IT infrastructure managers to meet budgetary limits, protect business and develop new technologies in 2014.
McKinsey recommends that companies create a commercial-style interaction model with business partners in order to address demands and turn business requirements into specifications to drive costs.
Infrastructure leaders must develop industrial-style procurement systems to fulfill operational requirements and control application-development road maps, the authors say.
Infrastructure organizations are also advised to treat private cloud environments as an opportunity, step up end-user technology offerings, bolster facility resiliency as well as cybersecurity and implement a plan-build-run model for the organization.
Senior infrastructure leaders must expand their talent management capabilities through rotational staffing, recruitment of managers from application development and technology firms and nontechnical training for these managers, McKinsey says.
The authors also recommend that infrastructure organizations implement frontline metrics and use these systems to perform individual coaching.
