Gone are the days when organizations used traditional management approaches, with simple rules of hierarchy and supply chain. As the businesses are diversifying with the needs of an ever-growing population, complex IT ecosystems are evolving, which need not only understanding of the employees, but also proper sustainability and management. Before the discussion of IT ecosystem management is initiated, it is important to understand what an IT ecosystem actually is. It is a network of organizations that drives the creation, usage, delivery and disposal of IT products and services. Today, business ventures and organizational operations are not just constricted to an “IT department” rather these are now managed by an intricate web of consumers, producers and key stakeholders. These participants collectively make the IT ecosystem. Lets elaborate on these participants:
Participants of IT Ecosystems:
1. The consumers are the end customers or in simpler words, the employees of the organization who are using the technology or software and getting its benefits
2. The producers which are actually the software or technology vendors, who can be both product and service providers.
3. The main stakeholders within the business who govern the role of IT in the organization and decide which direction the technology system operates and why.
These participants are the main managers of the IT ecosystems within organizations. The ecosystems are not only confined to some products and services, rather a plethora of services complemented by applications made by neighboring companies giving a helping hand. The main advantages of IT ecosystems are:
Advantages of IT Ecosystems:
1. These ecosystems offer solutions on a larger scale than a single organization; i.e. technical problems that may arise anywhere within the industry might be addressed and solved with the help of a healthy IT ecosystem.
2. An IT ecosystem makes organizations and service providers easy to connect and promote optimum communication leading to provision of best solutions to new and unpredicted problems.
3. The IT ecosystem promotes progress of a certain product or service. It is because the product might have limited value when used by a single organization, but once used with other applications and companies, its value enhances subsequently.
Now that the IT ecosystem has been defined and explained clearly, let’s move on to how to manage it in the most effective way, keeping in view business complexities of today’s world. To make things easier, certain studies have shown that the management of IT ecosystem is studied through three different paradigms:
1. Efficiency: How helpful are the IT products and services in maintaining the success of an organization in the long term. The more helpful the products, the more efficient is the IT ecosystem.
2. Strength: How durable and long-lasting are the IT products and services in the market. An IT ecosystem is likely to collapse if these products and services are feared to be inadequate or useless in the long term, as it leads to wastage of resources.
3. Novelty and revolution: Innovation is surely the key to an IT ecosystem’s sustenance. With every new day, a new problem is to be addressed and for that, a new product or service might be required. Therefore, the foundations of an IT ecosystem are only strong when supported with modernization.
Challenges in management of IT Ecosystems:
The potential challenges of managing an IT ecosystem in today’s fast driven world are:
1. Lack of skills at both ends, I.e. consumer as well as producer. The consumer might not know how to take full advantage of a certain product or service, whereas the producer might be unable to deliver the complete package.
2. Lack of funds: sometimes, organizations are hesitant to implement new software, products and services because of cost-cutting strategies and lack of necessary capital. This might imbalance the IT ecosystem causing new and unseen problems.
3. Resistance to change within organizations makes the IT ecosystem imbalanced. On one hand are available all sorts of new software, hardware and services to facilitate businesses, and on the other hand organizations are still lingering to traditional business approaches. This results in wastage of new technologies and discouragement of innovation as a whole.
Solutions:
The solutions to these problems are not easy, but if considered timely, can make an IT ecosystem sustainable for a longer period of time.
1. To make sure that software is used in the most efficient way, the licensing is to be kept in view. It should be made sure that no duplicate licenses of a product or service are made. License tracking software is now mandatory so as to identify accessible, installed, idle or underused software licenses. License tracking tools would help in maintaining a strong IT ecosystem by managing software information in the best possible way.
2. Trying to create smooth incorporation of new services for end users would help them adapt to the novel technology/software more easily.
3. Developing an automated customer support which answers the consumers’ queries at all times is another key to managing IT glitches and consequently the IT ecosystem. This would enable businesses to adapt to changes more quickly and excel ahead.
4. Focusing on future organizational IT needs would be a great idea to minimize problems with IT infrastructure. Instead of devising answers to problems once they have occurred, proper forecasting and IT asset management will help propose solutions beforehand.
It is therefore safe to say that IT ecosystems are evolving to be more diverse and complex with every passing day, but the good news is, their data management can be made easy and uncomplicated. This can be done through ever advancing technology and IT products and services being introduced and integrated within organizations, which if used wisely, would yield positive outcomes within the ecosystem.
