Building the BusinessTechnology Agora

42 Pages·2010·4.39 MB·English

TechnoVision the way we see it
Building the BusinessTechnology Agora
With Capgemini’s TechnoVision
Contents
3 The New Relationship Between
Business and Technology
7 Business Drivers
9 Technology Clusters
27 From Drivers and Clusters to Actions
34 Towards Business Technology
39 Conclusion
The New Relationship Between
Business and Technology
With the new millennium began a new era of This new era is the era of Business Technology
Information Technology: It became part of our (a name proposed by independent research
lives. It expands our brains, multiplies our firm Forrester Research, Inc.) 1.
relationships, moves with us.
Based on our work with many clients,
Information Technology also started to become Capgemini’s TechnoVision has evolved
part of the lives of enterprises and administrations. into a simple and powerful approach
No longer just an indispensable support to understand Business Technology
function, but an expansion of the organization’s and discuss its consequences for
intelligence, a universal connector, the way to enterprises and administrations.
become adaptive, the generator of new ideas, new
products, new services, new business models. This booklet describes TechnoVision’s state-
of-the-art. It starts with the Agora – the
With executives, employees, partners, clients place where business and technology meet.
and customers experiencing Information It shows how business and technology
Technology in a new way, with business making people prepare themselves for fruitful
technology its own, we need a new way to exchanges on the Agora, how the results are
deal, jointly, with business and technology. captured and how they lead to actions.
The ambition of Capgemini’s TechnoVision is to Of course, such a booklet can only show a
trace this new approach. Introduced in October general picture and give a taste for Business
2007 and undergoing continual development, Technology. We at Capgemini are keen to
Capgemini’s TechnoVision provides the tool for engage with our readers to help them come
business and Information Technology to enter to grips with the new world of Business
a new era of dialogue and united construction. Technology, and how to move there.
With business making technology its own, we
need a new way to deal, jointly, with business
and technology.
1 “My View: IT To BT,” Forrester Research, Inc., August 18, 2006.
3
4
The Necessary Dialogue where business and technology people gather,
High, thick walls separated business and discuss, dispute, conclude, transact. They
Information Technology. Different people, define what needs to be done, and distribute
different languages, different time lines, different the work to the surrounding workplaces.
measurements. As a result, one had to throw Instead of manufacturing weapons, crafting
“requirements” over these walls, and wait for amphoras and building bridges, the modern
the corresponding applications in return. Agora’s workplaces manufacture processes,
craft systems, build products and services.
The advent of Business Technology requires
a very different relationship. Business Our Agora is the BusinessTechnology
and technology people have to meet, Agora. It is designed to make the meeting
understand each other, act in concert. of business and technology minds happen.
For this purpose, business and technology
Capgemini recognizes this need people must come to the Agora equipped with
and introduces the Agora. powerful tools, the tools of their trades.
We are familiar with the Greek Agora. This is
where citizens gathered, discussed, disputed,
concluded, transacted. The new Agora is
The BusinessTechnology AgorA
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Business drivers and
The Necessary Tools
Discussing “freely” on the Agora would technology clusters
not produce smart results. It would only
perpetuate the misunderstandings, maybe are described in
even deepen the gulf separating business
terms that make
and technology people. For a productive,
targeted exchange, the participants need to sense for everybody.
prepare the tools of their respective trades.
The business people enter the Agora equipped
with their BUSINESS DRIVERS. Not only do The seven clusters build a clear landscape of
they know what they want to achieve, they technology and trace its expected evolution.
also know how they want to achieve it. Capgemini is ideally positioned to provide
this clear and balanced picture. Our technical
Business drivers are not just business objectives communities, notably the one networking our
or, worse, intentions – they are, as the name Chief Technology Officers, look at technology
indicates, the levers used by business to change without prejudice, with the objectivity that
the business, going after opportunities or Capgemini’s independence and dedication
resolving issues. Each lever is a project, under to services permit. To facilitate the Agora
way or under consideration, defined crisply and exchanges, the clusters are described in
jargon-free. Taken together, the drivers describe terms that make sense for everybody.
the evolution and progress of the organization.
Thus equipped, business and technology
The technology people enter the Agora people will be ready to meet on the Agora.
equipped with CAPGEMINI’S TECHNOLOGY Each dialogue, between one business driver
CLUSTERS. Not only do they know “representative” and one technology cluster
how technology works today, they also “representative,” will generate specific Business
know how technology is evolving. Technology insights. The sum of these dialogues
will be a full picture of business and technology.
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Business Drivers
For successful dialogues on the Agora, identifying What Is a Business Driver?
and describing an organization’s business drivers A business driver is a significant
is as challenging and important as identifying and
effort within an organization to
describing the technology developments.
execute a strategy, correct an
Business drivers shape a company’s strategy, issue, exploit an opportunity,
exploit large opportunities and resolve major
boost an innovation, ensure
operational issues. They translate into the
right projects and sets of significant actions. compliance or cope with
disruption. The driver finds the
Let’s explore what sorts of drivers our clients
“pin code” of the organization,
found, and what makes a well-defined driver
and a good list of business drivers for a fruitful unlocks its energies and makes
discussion on the Agora. it operate at a higher level.
What Sorts of Business Drivers Do We See?
There are two major types of drivers: the generic
ones, common to companies and organizations of 2. Translations of general trends (aging
a given segment or sector (such as retail banking, population, globalization, etc.) are
or a country’s local governments) and the specific important when they create a disruption
ones, specific to one company or organization. It or an opportunity, and therefore
turns out we need the specific ones most. require a major company project.
We have identified a wide variety of drivers – over 3. Execution-related drivers focus on
300 – which can be grouped in a few categories: efficient and flexible execution within
the organization or its supply chain.
1. Strategic business drivers – A TechnoVision
without at least one of these is hard 4. Finally, there are drivers related to corporate
to imagine. They define the growth or behavior (doing things in a responsible
differentiation strategy of an organization. manner) or to corporate hygiene, like
They should not be confused with avoidance of risk and compliance issues.
higher-level statements that express the
mission and vision of an organization. Business drivers are not static, they evolve over time
and depending on the circumstances. Which
implies that any list needs to be revised periodically.
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What Makes a Good Business Driver integrate over 50 acquisitions per year into the
and a Good List of Drivers? operations” or “being able to accommodate
A significant amount of effort needs to be 1 million new mobile subscribers per month.”
invested to come up with well-formulated,
shared and concrete enough drivers. A total of four to six drivers is the right
number: some of them short-term oriented,
They should be distinct and crisp, with a some of them longer term; some focused on
defined effort, a clear end goal and timeline, a specific important issue or opportunity,
and represent a workable and action-oriented some more strategic. One or two should
statement about a desired future state. Drivers be truly disruptive for the organization.
should not be too broad or too narrowly
defined, such as something that only holds In the end, each organization will have to make
for a small group within the organization. its own strategic choices and define its own
drivers. We found, however, that guidance
“Eternal truth” statements like “we are a people and inspiration is needed to create a good
company” are of little value in a meaningful list of well-formulated drivers. References
discussion about Business Technology. Examples and examples, especially from other industry
of good concrete drivers include “being able to sectors, usually lead to stronger drivers.
Business drivers should be distinct and crisp,
with a defined effort, a clear end goal and
timeline, and represent a workable and action-
oriented statement about a desired future state.
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Technology Clusters
Capgemini’s TechnoVision asserts that the resources. Technology helps us free ourselves
ongoing evolution of technology creates from current constraints and obstacles
freedom for businesses, notably in two ways. through simplification and standardization.
First, technology opens up vast opportunities Identifying and Understanding
for new value and innovation: It provides Technology Trends
organizations with the freedom to choose Our analysis of technology developments
where they want to focus their energies, thus led to 21 important technology trend areas
helping them achieve their business objectives. that are likely to have a profound effect on
business, now and in the forthcoming years.
Second, and it is a prerequisite to unlocking
new value and innovation, technology We then structured these 21 building blocks into
liberates organizations from the burden of seven technology clusters (using color-coding).
having to manage assets that do not contribute These clusters have the right granularity to be
to differentiating value, yet consume a used in the dialogue between technology and
disproportionate part of budget, time and business people, mapping the business drivers
of an organization in a simple and effective way
to the technology areas that may address them.
Real-Time
MaBPnurasogicneeemsssesnt InMHteuarmsahcautnipo n Cloud Mesh
Execution 
IRnetealll-igTeimncee PSaSocelkucattiogoren ds OrSieernvtiacteio n ACpopmlicpaotsiiotne s Advanced
Smart Analytics
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Software- Standards
as-a-Service Jericho-Style
Security Wikinomics Open Data InRteicrnhe t Mastered
Applications Data
Management
21 Key Technology Building BlocKs
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What is a Technology Building Block?
A technology building block is an important technology trend area
that is likely to have a profound effect on business, now and in the
forthcoming years.
One of the clusters – “LiberArchitecture” – The middle area contains two crucial clusters
underpins the other six operational clusters: (“Process-on-the-Fly” and “Thriving on
As the “environmental” cluster, it binds Data”) that help organizations to build new
together what brings the other clusters to life. capabilities in flexible business process
Whenever we are confronted with the “what’s management and deep data insight. These
new” question about any of the technology are the capabilities companies need in order
clusters, we find that the emergence of true to flourish in the “network of everything” of
open standards, the principles of service today and tomorrow. They make organizations
orientation and the evolution of cloud- quickly and correctly respond to events as they
based delivery make the difference. occur, creating a truly “enabled” business.
The “scroll wheel” at the top of the structure However, innovation, flexibility and insight
contains two clusters (“You Experience” and require a proper foundation. And this is what
“We Collaborate”) that consist of fast-moving, the bottom area (with the clusters “Sector-
highly dynamic technologies. They have a far- as-a-Service” and “Invisible Infostructure”)
reaching impact on systems, solutions and entire provides in terms of technology solutions that
business models. Opportunities to differentiate, help organizations run the non-differentiating
innovate and create new value are found in – or commodity – part of both IT and
the outside world. This is where predefined, business in a simplified, standardized way.
predictable transactions evolve into a continually
shifting, collaborative ecosystem or “smart
business network” of interacting players. Many
paradigm-changing technologies are found here.
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