The 2012 Olympics: inspiring businesses to become more competitive

Posted January 25, 2012 at 4:05 pm by Kenneth Bradfield in General.

New year offers a perfect opportunity for us all as individuals, and as businesses, to reflect on the past 12 months as well as the year ahead of us. With the Olympics acting as a showcase for human excellence, this year in particular has the added motivation to drive us all to reach new heights. We can all draw on the dedication, motivation and of course application of each of these athletes to inspire our own companies and to realize the goals we have set for 2012.

Like every good athlete, a successful business is a result of a number of factors: having clearly defined goals, setting realistic timeframes to achieve those goals, stepping outside ‘the norm’ to allow innovation and employing a high level of understanding between the methodology vs. application – which in the business world usually results in a situation of IT vs. ‘The Business’.

But there-in lies the issue for most organizations. IT’s partnership with ‘the business’ needs to be a collaborative one. Like any relationship, interactions within the business are both formal and informal in nature and the most effective collaboration involves give and take from both parties. If well established, the partnership that IT can develop with the business means that risks are taken together when innovating.

The same issues often occur when external providers are brought in. In terms of outsourcing and cloud services most providers come to the table with a ‘menu’ of options, asking you to chose the most suitable for your requirements. This ‘off the shelf’ approach to IT provision has its uses in terms of simple selection processes and potentially reduced implementation times, but it also limits you due to the pre-defined parameters of that product or service provider.

Like the Olympians of the 2012 games, companies around the world are waking up to the realization that to excel in the current climate there needs to be a paradigm shift in not only the relationships we have now, but also how we manage them. IT in particular should no longer be ‘accepting’ a product or service as dictated by the provider but demanding that it is designed and built around personal (business) requirements.

This economy driven ‘power-shift’ has left the traditional service providers somewhat exposed and opened the door to smaller, more agile and more innovative companies such as Jitscale. IT teams worldwide are partnering with Jitscale to fulfill their business needs through a combination of bespoke, scalable, secure & fully managed IT environments. Through this healthy collaborative relationship, both parties are aiming to ensure their growth and prosperity not only in this New Year but next year and beyond for many years to come.

So as we take a moment to reflect on 2011, look forward into 2012 and ultimately all try to emulate the successful Olympians this year, why not take a moment to talk to Jitscale and let us help you reconcile your IT and business needs in order to achieve those goals.