Using a Capability Perspective to Sustain IT Improvement

A firm's dependency on the information technology (IT) function is increasingly central to its ability to innovate. The IT function must balance this need for change with sustaining consistent, highly reliable operation of all existing services. A firm's ability to rapidly change IT is impeded by its legacy portfolio of applications and infrastructure because changes need to be very carefully managed and understood in order to avoid unintended consequences leading to system failure and process breakdown. The change imperative for IT is urgent and often determines how IT is valued by the rest of the firm. Improving the IT function's agility requires improvement in IT capabilities, which can be categorized into three broad classes: technology, process, and competency. This article identifies the critical success factors for creating sustainable change for each of these three capability classes. It draws on the practical experience of the authors and leverages appropriate standards that provide grounding for change within the IT function of the firm, along with the roles and tasks that will be involved in this change agency. The article is of primary benefit for IT executives seeking to sustain an ongoing, systematic transformation of the IT function to enable IT entrepreneurship and agility.