Synergise IT

John McKendrick wrote an interesting review on Don Hinchcliffe’s predictions for Enterprise 2.0 for 2008.

As I followed this topic closely, it seems like IT is moving towards small SOA type development instead of large scale, end to end enterprise wide transformation. Traditionally, such large scale developments generally consist of multiple vendors and millions or billions of dollars being invested with high risks and great uncertainty. I am not saying that its the end of enterprise transformation, I just believe that organisations with a relatively stable IT infrastructure would rather develop components that adheres to the SOA framework than to embark on a large scale IT transformation.

So does this mean that large consulting firms like Accenture would be affected? Generally, these companies charge more than smaller firms and since smaller developments can be handled by small to mid sized consulting firms, which may be able to deliver the same or better quality work as compared to large consulting firms - this industry would be facing some fierce competition. Large consulting firms have to evolve to adapt to such changes. The cost of running a global company might be too high to be nimble to compete in local markets.

One way to make full use of a global firm is to make full use of resources worldwide. If you have worked in a consulting firms before, you would have realised that there are alot of people on the “bench” doing nothing when they are in between projects. Also, global firms have to make use of specific technical expertise around the globe to deliver higher quality work.