Is Strategy or Operations King?

Strategy (read EA) and operations are two sides of the same coin — both ultimately seek to provide service and support to the end-user — and both are critical to making IT “work” as a functional whole.

In the Wall Street Journal, July 30, 2007, a number of prominent CIOs weigh in on the future of these two facets of IT.

Frank Modruson, the CIO of Accenture, predicts that within ten years, “you will see CIOs focus even more on strategy, whereas operations will be industrialized and outsourced…”

Similarly, Steve Squeri, the CIO of American Express, foresees that “the days of tech leaders as relationship managers and ‘order takers’ will go by the wayside… technical architecture will become a core function of IT departments.”

Both CIOs provide compelling visions of strategy and architecture playing an ever more central role in the enterprise for meeting business needs.

Do you agree with their visions? How important is EA in your organizations?

Is Strategy or Operations King?