My blog has frequent posts with different takes on the three aspects of sound IT design within organizations. This post is a version of a summary of my ideas I prepared for a group of newly hired leaders.
For IT to support efficient and effective operations, it must be appropriately designed so that it meets the users’ needs. IT is rarely the reason clients engage with organizations; clients seek products or services that are delivered by professionals who use technology efficiently and effectively. Appropriate design is defined and assessed by client-facing professionals. When they determine a design is inappropriate, the rest of the IT team must believe them and respond to make it more appropriate.
The IT must be properly configured so that it is sufficiently robust to meet the demand, it is reliably available, and it is secure to protect systems and data. IT professionals have the expertise and experience to make these decisions, thus they are the arbiters of how IT must be configured.
The IT must also be reasonably implemented so that it is sustainable. Organizational leaders recognize financial, human resource, and other limits on what can be sustained, and they also recognize the policy and regulatory expectations that must be satisfied.