Having been in the media industry for fifteen years, I have seen companies come and go, new models attempted and journalism, in general, change substantially. Today the big change is about digital and the traditional media industry is particularly affected – in fact, threatened. Change is a requirement for survival, but if not approached correctly, that very objective may not be met and an early demise may well be the result. This is the story of one such attempt.Image may be NSFW.
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Time has come for Business and Technology alignment
With print media seemingly on an endless downward slide, the time was right for a small, niche media house focused on an award-winning flagship publication to effect a major business overhaul. Time to shift focus, change gears, and step boldly into the digital space while steadily scaling back on costly print production.
These kind of game-changing moments don’t come up all that often, but the media industry is on a precipice. Take the plunge or spiral down into obscurity like so many traditionally-focused publishers have since the recession struck?
With management having recognised that technology was the key to this new course, the company embarked upon a transformational strategy in order to find new growth in this expanding digital space.
Rope in the Business Technology Expert
A technology expert who also had extensive experience in a variety of media production mechanics was found and added to the team in a managerial position. This was the person who would lead the transformation from the old ways of print to the modern age of digital. A comprehensive strategy was formalised for the business to transition from viewing IT as merely a provider of a stable working platform, to being in a position where innovative technology constantly redefines and revives the business model in a whole new direction.
The detailed roadmap incorporated modernisation of the website itself and the back-end databases, the creation of a mobile-ready digital magazine format complete with the integration of all the rich media a modern consumer could demand, comprehensive and concerted marketing efforts across available social media channels, and a full-spectrum digital communications strategy based primarily on a healthy email database of existing clients and readers. In addition the sales team was to enjoy increased automation with the implementation of cloud-based CRM.
In order to implement this full-spectrum strategy however, support for this IT leader was essential. At the very least, additional IT skills capable of taking care of the operational infrastructure, and in the fullness of time even a dedicated CIO to facilitate clear communications with the business leadership team and focus full time on driving the technology strategically. However the organisation was small and could not afford to hire in these diverse (and costly) skills. So the business set about outsourcing its needs to specialist IT providers instead, building what elements the in-house staff could with an eye towards integrating these into a cohesive platform at a later stage.
Encountering the Business-IT gap
It was at this stage that the dreaded Business-IT divide struck home. The business managers built up a schedule of deadlines by which dates components of the overall solution needed to be completed, and planned the business around these. Meanwhile the IT Manager was struggling with technology providers who either simply failed to deliver, or produced outputs which did not meet the specifications and therefore could not provide the value the fledgling digital media house required. With so many responsibilities on the shoulders of this one individual – who also took care of daily IT maintenance and support while managing the delivery of the outsourced components, inevitably some of those balls in the air had to fall along the way.
By leaving this single “unicorn” IT manager without the necessary support, the knock-on effects rippled throughout the project. Planning and decision-making processes fell victim of the daily workload of mundane maintenance, and this in turn affected the overall execution of the plan leading to sub-standard results.
After this initial setback came another prospective skills provider, which once again promised precisely what the media house required but failed to deliver on these needs. By this time the established deadlines had long since passed by and the business need for the digital platform to replace traditional publishing mechanisms was getting ever more pressing. The business management team was losing faith in the promise of the technology due to these delays and the costs of implementation continued to spiral upwards.
Although elements of the solution, largely those researched and built in-house, were in place and functioning as desired, the full-spectrum integrated system remained elusive. The organisation had approached the migration strategically, the team had been built to the best of its ability as dictated by available budget, and a comprehensive strategy formulated and then put into motion. But in the end a lack of delivery had all but scuppered the ambitious objectives of completely transforming into a digital publishing player leaving the organisation dependent on traditional publishing mechanisms while suppliers continued to promise the envisaged solution without ever delivering on these promises.
Aligning IT and Business is not easy
The net result of these efforts were at least the beginning of the journey toward closing the Business-IT divide. Today the organisation continues as a hybrid publisher, with the traditional print product continuing to be the core business focus while digital channels are steadily developed and refined to meet their needs. The business leaders better understand the existence of, and the danger inherent in, the Business-IT divide and launching headlong into a technology-based business strategy without first addressing this gap.
Although the management still believes in technology as the transformational force they need, they are more wary about moving too quickly down this promising path. However still lacking the full spectrum of skills necessary to understand all the implications of this identified gap, they are like many SMEs today uncertain of the next steps to take to address this challenge head on.
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