A key warning sign that your organisation may have an outdated IT sourcing strategy is that IT is failing to deliver change at the pace required by the organisation. 

The primary cause of this that we see amongst clients is non-structured business engagement, leading to poor demand management and subsequent poor prioritisation of internal and external resources.

Why Is It Happening?

For a long time, IT has second-guessed business needs and what to allow through or prioritise in the project pipeline. The Digital era means all business functions are becoming impatient to see their processes digitised. Solutions are more end user / shadow IT-friendly, and the opportunities for SaaS bypass leaves many IT functions on the back foot, struggling with pent up demand and a new wave of technical diversity.

Recommended Approach

IT needs to get back on the front foot with a Sourcing Strategy that is directly driven by business needs and informed by a current view of market solutions. This means developing really good business engagement alongside an appropriate level of IT governance. IT often holds a deep understanding of business processes.

By being an intrinsic participant in business strategy development, IT can help organisations make a step change in capability while avoiding expensive tactical errors in the digital 'sweet shop'.

Outdated IT sourcing strategies can prevent organisations from embracing industry disruption and taking advantage of the opportunities that technology presents. Since most disruption is IT-led, Boards urgently need to elevate their IT Sourcing Strategy alongside Business and IT Strategy to ensure it can deliver on organisational goals.

Coeus' award-winning Sourcing team have identified 8 further warning signs that your IT sourcing model may not be strategic enough to take the business forward. View the 'Disruptive Sourcing' playbook here.

View our Sourcing capabilities here.