Developing Organisational Agility

Download this Corporate IT Forum Executive Summary.

Organisations looking to become agile, able to support short-term pressures but focus on the long term, will be stronger than those simply making short-term decisions or implementing change programmes that go nowhere. Rapid decision-making and execution are the defining attributes of an agile business, and the role of IT is vital in its ability to integrate and upgrade knowledge-sharing processes.

The majority of large enterprises find that their capacity for change is far less than their smaller counterparts not affected by legacies. Making decisions quickly, mobilising resources rapidly and not letting technology get in the way goes against the structures, processes and governance put in place to control and optimise larger and more established organisations. However, global businesses can still benefit substantially from applying the principles of agility across the enterprise, focusing on the needs of their customers to gain a competitive advantage.

Whereas traditionally Finance, IT and HR are seen as some of the least agile departments within global organisations, often agility starts within the IT function, as a development methodology that promotes adaptive planning and encourages rapid and flexible response to change, and the benefits of this can be demonstrated to the rest of the business.

Life after agile development is a step change that affects the whole business and covers organisational design, technologies, processes and perhaps most importantly, mindsets.  

This report has been compiled from experience shared by 20 senior IT professionals representing 14 organisations, with a combined total of over 450 years experience in corporate IT. Represented industries include county council, government, healthcare, international food group, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, publishing, recruitment and utilities.