In our second of three videos from the NCC annual conference today, we talk to Ian Jones from the NCC< Sven Strasburg from IBM and Phill Everson from Deloitte on how the IT industry needs to adapt and move forward in the wake of the credit crunch, to streamline, cut cost and improve efficiency across the industry.

We chat to Steve Markwell, CEO of the NCC and Nick Drabble from IBM about today’s annual conference looking at The Future of the IT Department

1. A CIO right for the job

The CIO in a post-recessional world  should ask himself-
How critical is it to the industry?
How mature is the use of it in the organisation
Which it capabilities need to improve?
How should the role of the CIO evolve from these questions?

The answers to these questions will determine what kind of role the CIO needs to adopt. Will he become an evangelist? A facilitator? An innovator?

2. The IT department of the future must cut costs godly and smartly.

According to Deloitte, only a third of all it cost cutting projects target savings of 10% or more. These targets are often set by business not IT, meaning 4 in 10 organisations attempt another cost reduction within a year.

It seems that IT need to take control of the cost savings programme in organisations, by getting a real understanding of their it costs, managing demand and setting appropriate charge back mechanisms to change and drive behavior.

IT departments need to set enough time to manage a cost reduction programme and ring-fence money for discretionary spending. But also with this, prepare for all options including off shoring and outsourcing, as well as the more obvious selling of asserts and reducing SLAs.

3. The IT department needs to unlock new sourcing benefits

This is in general getting better, 80% of outsourcing deals resulting in 25% savings, however 2 in 3 executives report no innovation or transformation.

IT outsourcing needs time both to select vendors and to define realistic SLAs. According to Deloitte, it departments need to change focus when it comes to outsourcing, from coat benefits (which should be taken as a given) to providing transformational change for the business.

4. The IT department of the future needs talent assets, not liabilities.

40% of the IT Departments budget is spent on people. An organisation need to Optimise the way in which they manage their people to get the most out of them.

5. Walk the talk of Green IT

IT organisations need to take another step forward in strategically aligning themselves to the green agenda. Although there are clear CSR commitments to be made here, there are major business benefits to be had. When only 1.4% of actual energy that goes into a data centre is driving computation, there is a clear need to re-evaluate the way in which we approach our data Management.

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More to come from Phil this afternoon in our Video Blogs! Stay tuned…

Declan Curry

The event will be Chaired by Declan Curry,  the new presenter of BBC Two’s ‘Working Lunch’ programme, and with a packed programme with presentations from IBM, Google, Sage and many more, it looks  like it’s going to be a brilliant day.

For those of you who aren’t able to make it, we will be filming all day and updating the blog with interviews with Declan and the speakers. You can also follow our twitter feed @futurefocus to stay up to date with the best bits from the conference, and get notifications of the video blogs.

The dreary clouds of gloom have been shrouding business for many months now. Negative commentary from business leaders has been this year’s flavour. So it has been a welcome relief to focus on the future with less blinkered entrepreneurs.

According to polls at the Future Focus conferences in June 2009, most British business owners and senior personnel either believe the economy is already starting to grow again or expect the recovery to begin within the next six to twelve months. The mood is not so optimistic in Ireland, where economists forecast it will be another five years before GDP returns to the levels achieved in 2008.

Future Focus Dublin – Round Up

But wisely, the main priorities of Future Focus delegates were forward looking. Many revealed plans to “find new ways to grow business”, “enter new markets” or “take share from competitors”. But most common was a desire to keep innovating and use the economic problems as an opportunity to transform company and change their business model.

They had come to the conferences in the hope of being “inspired to think differently about managing their businesses”, and for the vast majority, the Future Focus events fitted the bill. As well as offering a good blend of IBM and external speakers, the events were unusual in featuring a large proportion of ‘case study’ examples. Listening to how other medium-sized are profiting through original thinking and wise use of technology was inspirational for many.

There was certainly a huge amount to learn from the real-world experience of successful business innovators. But just as important was the role played by so many different technologies and communications media in the success of this first phase of the Future Focus programme. It drew together everything from traditional printed White Papers delivered by post and press advertisements in the Daily Telegraph to videos delivered via the Internet and 24/7 commentary via Twitter.

Fully one third of conference delegates reported that flexible, remote and mobile working accounts for more than half of all their work. So it is clear that many forward-looking businesses are already operating to new business structures and using ICT to build success in the face of adversity. There will be many more casualties before the recession is fully over, but the path to future success is clear. Fresh thinking and wise investment is the foundation of future business success.

You can now find all the presentations from the Presentations page on the blog, from all of the conferences split between the morning and evening. You can also now connect with us on Scribd where you can download the presentations direct and comment and share them with colleagues and friends.

Thank you for all of you who were able to attend, stay tuned over the next few days to the blog for the wrap up video and news about the continuing work from the Future Focus programme.

Here are some of the people I know who Tweeted about Future Focus Dblin – if I missed you please add your name/Twitter handle  to the comments. Thank you so much for helping share the information that was shared.

Go follow these people and get to know them – they are generous with their time and are people who are using social networks to bring content and value to their own tribes.

@MarketingDonut
@fredchannel
@rogergalligan
@fintanmurphy
@garygorman
@FutureFocus
@EoinRedmond
@MiriamAhern
@barneyausten
@BrianHonan
@FacundoV
@dermotcasey
@Patrick_DCC
@PaulineLog
@pk_dublin
@green_goddess

And what have learned?

That I can not Tweet, live blog, network and record podcasts and videos at the same time! The job of live reporting online is challenging.

And if you are looking for someone to help you build a community online,  you find someone who is a journalist who has recently lost their job due to the current downturn in traditional media.

They know how to connect, how to engage, how to create content. Hire them now before your competitor does.

Author: Krishna De speaks, writes and consults on brand engagement and communications to build your visibility, reputation and profits through traditional and social media;  follow her on Twitter @krishnade.

Eamonn challenged the audience to rethink their place in cyberspace – he commented that whole the Internet has been available for some years, there were huge opportunities that we could explore to manage through challenging economic times.

He focused particularly on the transition from traditional media communications to online media and had three reflections for us:

1. Traditional offline media businesses will not survive unless they go digital
2. Reduce your costs by going digital as traditional print and broadcast media are too expensive
3. Use technology an the Internet to take out costs of your business and streamline business processes.

If you don’t know the Daft.ie case study, check it out – there is a video here from Dublin City Enterprise Board where Eamonn speaks about the business – it’s a little out of date in terms of their success but worth watching.

Author: Krishna De speaks, writes and consults on brand engagement and communications to build your visibility, reputation and profits through traditional and social media;  follow her on Twitter @krishnade.