Nowadays everyone has clear in mind the meaning of the IT term: Information Technology.
IT refers to an entire industry that uses computers, networking, software and other equipment to manage (digital) information.
The common people use to say the computer world.
By definition we are aware that the information is the unique IT deliverable, each other definition parts are used to fit for the purpose.
IT professionals are then responsible for storing, processing, retrieving and protecting digital information of the companies.
Another common term to define computer world is ICT, widely used in education context, simplified by common people as just another IT synonym.
Performing a professional analysis we discover the C letter means Communication, which extends the information on its widest spectrum of typologies and embraces the multimedia broadcasting technologies such as audio/video processing, telephony, mails, instant messaging and social networks nowadays even more merged into the digital world and the digitalization era.
ICT extend the IT meaning which embraces a broad number of technologies to transmit information while IT becomes a sub system of ICT.
The word communication contains also the verb «to communicate» inside, which we perform an action able to put the information in a live state (information transmission through several channels, formats and tools).
By a management and IT governance point of view, which refers to strategic alignment, policies and regulatory laws every single piece of IT activity is linked to a service providing a.k.a. «everything as a service».
Behind this concept, pumped up to the edge of globalization by cloud model, the sense of communication becomes:
«delivering the correct information (through one or more provided services) at right time to the right person»
To successfully achieve this statement, Communication needs necessary to be sustained by two other C-factors: Collaboration and Coordination.
Communication without collaboration becomes chaos and without coordination become pure “noise”.
An information exchange transmission between two or more peers performs correctly, without wasting time and energy, only where receivers coordinate and collaborate with transmitter; one at a time speaks while each other remain silently in listening state in an cooperation way.
This concept has been inspired by the Kiel approach of collaborating systems and theories of signals transmission and communication. It applies to all IT resources: first of all information but also hardware, software and the last but not the least human resources.
All the resourced as key users are orchestrated on every company by processes.
Why we are speaking about new horizon and not about an always worthwhile good practice of every communication?
Because IT is a young science, still with a lot of bugs and strongly influenced since beginning by hypes and tons of technologies which they are only tools and techniques how to communicate information without thinking of the ultimate purpose of this.
The IT expert should be able to use all the technologies that best fit the use and the purpose while he has just finished to find an answer to these questions:
1) What we want to communicate?
2) Why do we communicate this?
3) How are we communicating?
Today the companies need to transmit a lot of information to survive on their marketplaces as never before, by this way IT departments have to:
– manage a growing quantity of information
– manage information over a growing type of different channels
– manage a growing processes number through digital technologies
By opposition business needs even more immediate and concrete answers to support the steering committee and the board of decision. A big data of information are essential to keep the enterprise alive and focused in the global market, to be agile, proactive to adopt and adapt new core business models.
Processes and organization optimization are tangible deliverables of cost saving policies able to linearly reduce all the extra core-business corporate components such as IT departments or staff, but also human resources, finance and controlling, legal and compliance, facility, etc.
These high skilled and experienced profiles continue to be essential to move the corporate gears, when needed, in a different approach where no fixed costs and more professional and direct relationship become a win-win strategy.
What is the best worthwhile corporate approach?
Create a direct relationship with external IT partners and give them a turnkey access to all the information assets and wealth?
In response of this question we wonder who is exactly an IT partner and which kind of goals and target it has in opposition to IT consultant?
IT partner is an agency essentially linked to IT majors brand, where is able to provide hardware and software solutions in behalf of these vendors.
The goals and sales policies are clear selling orders in respect of commercial agreements, so the IT partner doesn’t take care of the most important corporate asset: information (and communication as a 3C rule) but propose and sell just another tool to manage information in some way.
By this way IT partners are not interested, and often are not able, to perform the 3 C rule information and communication analysis having a corporate point of view based on a lived experience but on IT point of view only experience, often far away from corporate realities.
This is the final result of too many unsatisfied corporate in terms of project post implementation review results (unchecked quality checks, unmet benefits, etc).
IT consultant becomes a valid “super partes” filter just because is not an IT partner and has just lived within a corporate.
So, IT consultant is able to communicate both with corporate management, staff and IT partners which he speaks the same slang (where he’s able to analytically understand which tool is better based on corporate point of view only), he acts also in a transparent and professional way, deep knowledge and passionate interest of corporate information needs.
Finally he uses to:
«evaluate the better (benefits justified) project, at right time, with the best IT partner»
Cherubini Andrea, i3CT
ICT Consultant