Collaboration between National Computing Centre, BCS and
Intellect is combating the IT industry's negative image among
business leaders
Three leading IT bodies are working together to create a new
culture of professionalism to help combat the negative image
surrounding IT in business and government.
The National Computing Centre, the British Computer Society and
IT suppliers trade association Intellect shared a common platform
at last week's annual National Computing Centre conference in
London to report how they are collaborating to bridge the gaps
between business and IT, and between IT users and their
suppliers.
NCC group chief executive Michael Gough outlined his vision for
the future. "We need a single, non-governmental, self-regulating
profession spanning the public and private sector," he said.
The three organisations aim to tackle the paradox that although
IT has never been more critical to all business sectors, the
perception of the industry in terms of delivery track record,
business relationships and alignment, supplier relationships and
CEO-level viewpoints is still too low.
"Most senior decision makers, whether in politics or business,
are almost totally unaware of the capabilities and the limitations
of IT, and expectations are often totally unrealistic," said BCS
chief executive David Clarke at the conference.
"Does the IT profession want to continue to be regarded as an
unprofessional, unreliable, expensive waste of money?" he asked.
Clarke stressed that the gap between business needs and IT-based
solutions could only be bridged by IT professionals.
Since agreeing upon a memorandum of understanding on IT
professionalism in March this year, the BCS and the NCC have
collaborated, together with Intellect, to establish common
ground.
"Professionalism is an aspirational standard, rather than a set
of minimum requirements," said Clarke. "The essential elements are
competence, integrity and service."
Gough's key point was that successful IT went far beyond
traditional IT. "The focus of the professional agenda needs to be
the five points of engagement the business has with information:
the use, supply, management, direction and governance of
information used in the enterprise.
"It is all about strategic management of strategic assets, in
the context of business value, and no longer about IT alone," he
said. "Information asset management, not IT, is the key issue for
business success for this decade."
Criticism prompts new code
John Higgins, director general of suppliers organisation
Intellect, said he was working with the NCC to adapt Intellect's
code of best practice, which contains 10 supplier commitments, for
commercial use.
The code, launched in December 2002, was in response to
criticism at that time of the IT supply industry in the public
sector.
Higgins said the period was rock bottom for the supply industry,
a time when a Cabinet member referred to suppliers as "snake-oil
salesmen", and both the e-envoy and the head of the Office of
Government Commerce were publicly outspoken in their criticism.
"We are keen to use the code to drive change in the public and
private sectors, and are working with the NCC to drive
transferability in practice," he said.