The Future of IT: Radical Changes Ahead - Dave Wells

A lasting effect of the recession economy is radical change for information technology organizations and IT professionals.  When the economic recovery occurs, many things will to return to pre-recession conditions. But information technology has been forever changed. Financially driven changes (“we can’t afford it”) quickly led to discovery driven changes (“we can live without it” and “we’ve found a better way”) that foretell a substantial IT shift. The change affects organizations, individuals, programs, and careers. With cloud computing, the need for large data centers is reduced. Software as a Service (SaaS) changes the developer role, and Data as a Service (DaaS) changes the DBA role. Social networking and collaboration tools redefine the nature of teamwork.  Data and technology savvy business managers change relationships and expectations.

The next generation of IT must be lean, agile, and responsive. Expect to see many traditional IT responsibilities spin off to business units, and many IT jobs absorbed into business roles. Not just another cycle of decentralization, this is a fundamental change in the positioning of IT – a convergence where Business/IT alignment is no longer enough and Business/IT integration is the new goal. This change raises many big questions and many hard questions. What does it mean for your organization, for your BI and MDM programs, for data governance and for IT governance? These are but a few of the critical questions. Perhaps most importantly you need to know what it means for you and your IT career.

Dave Wells is a consultant, teacher, and practitioner in the field of Information Management. He brings to every endeavor a unique and balanced perspective about the relationships of business and technology that has been refined through a career of more than forty years encompassing both business and technical roles. 

Combining business and technical experience with more than twenty years as an educator in the information management field, Dave now focuses on strategies, architectures, and education as the keys to achieving business value from information technology.  

Dave is a frequent speaker at industry events ranging from international conferences to local group meetings and a contributor author to information management publications. His consulting and mentoring practice focuses on areas such as IT strategy and planning, IT and data governance, BI strategy and architecture, business performance management, and applied business analytics.

Dave can be reached at dwells@infocentric.org.