The adoption of these technologies may provide much value in the short term, however may become a liability at some point down the track. How can you and your organizations insulate yourself against the future adverse consequences of these emerging and disruptive technologies – the so called success trap?

1. Helping your
organisation avoid the
‘success trap’ of
emerging and
disruptive
technologies
CIO Strategy Summit
Gold Coast, Australia - 21st
August 2013
© All rights reserved. Rob Livingstone Advisory Pty Ltd. Unauthorized redistribution prohibited
without prior approval. ‘Navigating through the Cloud’ and ‘Success is our story, let’s make it
yours’ are Trademarks of Rob Livingstone Advisory Pty Ltd.

2. Agenda
1. Exploring the ‘success trap’
2. Forces shaping enterprise IT
3. Strategic inflection points
4. Democratisation of :
• Technology
• Enterprise IT
• Risk
• Privacy
• Intellectual Property
5. Ideas for avoiding the technology induced Success Trap
6. Open questions and discussion

3. Attributes of the success trap:
• What’s been successful up to now, may be self
limiting at a point in the future
• Keep exploiting existing opportunities along the same
lines until you run out of resources and/or options,
resulting in a collapse or catastrophic change
• Part of the human condition?:
• Present: Concrete / tangible / obvious
• Future: Abstract
• By way of illustration, let’s explore a few examples
1. Exploring ‘The Success Trap’

4. Antibiotic-resistant bacteria
Can you die from a cut
finger?
Success has led to
widespread use including:
•Over prescription
•Use in food production
•No new class of antibiotics
discovered since the 1980s.
1. Exploring ‘The Success Trap’

5. Economic
• GFC – Could not stop
ourselves gorging on
easy money and the
Ponzi economy.
• Constellation of
organisations, not to
mention whole countries
– impact on society –
widespread and
profound and still being
felt
1. Exploring ‘The Success Trap’

6. • The first, and most influential of these forces in my
view, is the increase uncertainty and volatility facing
Australian organisations, whether public, private or
government. This tends to drives executive decision
making which is increasingly focussed on the short
term.
• The second influence is the fundamental shift in the
expectations of enterprise IT by other executives and
the business as a whole. This is a direct consequence
of having first hand exposure to user friendly, low cost
(or free) consumer grade IT technologies and
solutions, and pervasive marketing from IT vendors.
2. Forces shaping enterprise IT

7. • The third is internal inconsistency of business strategies
across business units. This presents a challenge for
those in IT leadership roles, who are expected to respond
to inconsistent short term demands, some of which are
fragmented, not always well thought through, potentially
contradictory and not always in the best long term
interests of the organisation.
• The fourth is the expectation that IT leadership should
not appear as technologists. The ‘new IT leader’ should
be able to communicate clearly in ‘business speak’ and
turn technical, governance and risk complexity into plain
language.
2. Forces shaping enterprise IT

8. 2. Forces shaping enterprise IT
In the midst of this, how can IT influence the landscape?

9. Empowerment, trusting, adaptable,
multi-skilled, perceptive,
observant, powers of persuasion,
self sufficiency, engagement.
Governance, process, control,
policy driven, mono-skilled, change
is a threat, careers in transition,
reliance on the ‘enterprise’
2. Forces shaping enterprise IT
What’s the appropriate approach to creating influence?

10. At an inflection point, you barely notice the change …..
3. Strategic Inflection Points
…. Then you’re heading in another direction …..

11. What forces are at play on your organisation right now?
How adaptive is your enterprise strategy?
– a change that will require the transformation of the
organisation’s strategic intent, direction, action, etc.
– If not managed effectively, survival is not guaranteed!
It’s all about managing the transition …..
3. Strategic Inflection Points
"It is not necessary to change. Survival
is not mandatory." - William Edwards
Deming

12. • The early detection of inflection points is crucial to:
– The survival of the organisation: good leaders detect change
well before it’s influence is generally recognised
– Feedforward, not feedback
– As a CIO, seize the high ground when it comes to
technology induced change and guide the organisation
through the spectrum of opportunities and pitfalls in the
adoption of new and emerging technologies.
• Develop an ‘early warning’ radar
3. Strategic Inflection Points
It’s all about managing the transition …..

13. Rise of our U.S. centric global digital landlords such as
Apple, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and others are shaping
the Technology ecosystem. +
Industrialisation of IT +
Cloud computing +
Mobility (Smartphones and tablets) +
Low / Nil financial barrier to adoption +
Herd mentality = +
Democratisation of technology
4. Democratisation of TECHNOLOGY

14. • The phenomenon of Shadow IT is pervasive, and here
to stay.
• Shadow IT has re-shaped expectations of IT within the
enterprise by users, and your organisation’s customers
Tony Soprano “You see out there
it's the 1990s but in this house it's
1954”
Is this what users feel about their enterprise IT
systems when compared to what they can do
on their home PC, tablet or Smartphone?
4. Democratisation of ENTERPRISE IT

15. http://reports.weforum.org/global-risks-2013/
4. Democratisation of RISK

16. But what about privacy in an era in which your every
move has been recorded somewhere in the digital world
through your electronic transactions?
Install Collusion add-on for your Firefox browser
then browse your secure corporate site(s).
•Collusion is an experimental add-on for Firefox
and allows you to see all the third parties
tracking your movements.
https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/collusion/
4. Democratisation of PRIVACY

17. 4. Democratisation of INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
The gradual demise of the
once giant Nortel through the
persistent siphoning off of
intellectual property by
alleged Chinese hackers
over a 10 year period should
be a salutary reminder that
nothing should be taken for
granted in the realm of
information security.
http://tinyurl.com/6olnzxw
Question: Who is taking
an interest in your
enterprise’s IP?

18. 5. Avoiding the Technology Success Trap
NINE Points to Ponder ….

19. 5. Avoiding the Technology induced Success Trap
a. Institutionalise innovation organisation-wide
b. Recognise that your IT department (or vendor) cannot
drive innovation unilaterally
c. Formally adopt agile methodologies throughout your
organisation.
d. Review managerial and staff incentive schemes
e. Transform your IT departments from a technology cost
center to a business relevant services broker
f. IT Vendor Management V2.0
g. Protect your crown jewels
h. Monitor systemic risk
i. Manage the technology evangelists in your organisation

20. a. Institutionalize innovation organisation-wide
FROM COST MANAGEMENT TO INNOVATION AND BUSINESS VALUE. Michael R. Weeks & David Feeny
California Management Review VOL. 50, NO. 4 SUMMER 2008 Pg 127.
Have expectation that enabling new and superior
ways of exploiting IT, which would in turn enable
business improvements to be achieved
Change the way the business operates
Can have significant impacts on the whole
organisation, its stakeholders, customers, staff,
etc…
5. Avoiding the Technology induced Success Trap
Best antidote for surviving technology induced disruption

21. b. Recognise that your IT department (or vendor) cannot
drive innovation unilaterally
‘IT relentlessly drives and delivers innovation
at a global, societal, and individual level at
phenomenally fast rates, yet, paradoxically, IT
departments within organisations often
struggle to drive innovation from within their
own organisations to the same extent’ **
** ‘The IT Innovation Paradox’ CIO Magazine Summer
2010/2011, Pg 14.
5. Avoiding the Technology induced Success Trap

22. c. Formally adopt agile methodologies throughout your
organisation
5. Avoiding the Technology induced Success Trap
• Agile is the new black
• Start at the enterprise strategy level.
http://agilemanifesto.org/

23. d. Review managerial and staff incentive schemes
• Framing short term financial incentives primarily around functional
responsibilities will reinforce behaviours that will drive results that
may not be in the best long term interests of the whole
organisation.
• Incentives drive temporary compliance.
• Localised / functionally focussed incentives reinforce silos
• Obsessive and inappropriate focus on driving localised short term
targets can hamper or even undermine enterprise-wide innovation
initiatives that could well contribute to the ultimate survival of the
organisation.
5. Avoiding the Technology induced Success Trap

24. e. Transform IT from a technology cost center to a
business relevant services broker
• SaaS: Strategy as a Service: Proactively deliver business relevant
strategies to meet defined or expected changes with agility.
• Clearly define the accountability locus for enterprise IT across the
organisation.
- What’s in-scope for the management of IT services?
- What is /is not negotiable in the IT portfolio of services?
- IT should be the trusted advisor, not consultants or vendors!
• IT should constantly and proactively articulate the implications for
disruptive and emerging technologies for their organisation
• Upgrade / coach IT leadership to operate confidently and with business
relevance at most senior levels of management
5. Avoiding the Technology induced Success Trap

25. f. IT Vendor Management V2.0
Upgrade your technology vendor management practices
• The conventional RFP-bid-response approach to engaging IT
vendors may not be adequate in the uptake of new, emerging and
disruptive business technology.
• Complex, monolithic contracts inhibit agility and partnering across a
range of providers – also inhibiting interactions between (potentially
competing) providers.
• Need for a far tighter, more transparent ongoing working relationship
between you, your provider(s) and between the providers
themselves
5. Avoiding the Technology induced Success Trap

26. f. IT Vendor Management V2.0
5. Avoiding the Technology induced Success Trap
Factors shaping vendor relationship landscape
1. IT may no longer be the primary decision makers.
2. Your exit is more important than the entry.
3. Disruption in your vendor’s market
4. Too big to talk?
5. ‘Agile’ is the new black
6. Risk appetite is not constant.
7. Managing vendor jurisdictions.
8. Your vendor’s shareholders are not yours.
9. What’s the purpose of your contract?
10. Fragmentation of the vendor’s supply chain.
http://rob-livingstone.com/2013/07/smarter-it-vendor-management/

27. g. Protect your crown jewels
• Intellectual property is often your organisation’s primary asset –
ensure your IT and organisational security controls are effective
and appropriate
• For Cloud and outsource service providers, do not assume
compliance to specific legislation such as privacy, data protection, or
respect for jurisdictional boundaries.
• Cybercriminal activity is a multi billion dollar industry – and it’s a
constant arms race between the good guys and the bad guys –
sometimes the bad guys win
• Organisations often reluctant to report that they have been
successfully hacked or compromised for reasons of brand damage,
adverse impact on share price, etc. Mitigates against industry-
wide collaboration to fight cybercrime & lowers the perceived level
of risk
5. Avoiding the Technology induced Success Trap

28. g. Protect your crown jewels
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/organized-crime/expert-group-to-conduct-study-cybercrime-feb-2013.html
Read authoritative,
vendor independent
reports and work out
what’s relevant to your
organisation
5. Avoiding the Technology induced Success Trap

29. h. Monitor Systemic Risk
5. Avoiding the Technology induced Success Trap
Referring to Slides:
23, 24 and 25
www.slideshare.net/RobLivingstoneAdvisory/rla-cio-summit-27-feb-2013-transitioning-the-it-department

30. 5. Avoiding the Technology induced Success Trap
Slide 23
h. Monitor Systemic Risk

31. 5. Avoiding the Technology induced Success Trap
Slide 25
h. Monitor Systemic Risk

32. i. Manage the technology evangelists in your organisation
5. Avoiding the Technology induced Success Trap
‘The technology evangelist’ CIO Magazine July/August
2013, Pg 68.

33. • The technology evangelist is typically categorised by the persistent
advocacy and promotion for the use of a particular product or
technology with a view to its broad adoption
• Distinguishing the true technology evangelist from an enthusiastic
and persuasive acolyte of a particular vendor’s offering may be a
challenge for senior Non-IT executives.
• The single minded technology evangelist's enthusiasm for their
specific solution may gain a groundswell of support without the
appropriate due diligence and rigour being applied to the solution.
• This fuels the emergence of Shadow IT, which, if not managed
appropriately could set the seeds of future systemic risk for the
organisation through inappropriate use of technology
5. Avoiding the Technology induced Success Trap
i. Manage the technology evangelists in your organisation

34. W: www.rob-livingstone.com
E: rob@rob-livingstone.com
P: +61 2 8005 1972
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Tw: @rladvisory
ROB LIVINGSTONE
- Fellow, University of Technology, Sydney
- Principal, Rob Livingstone Advisory Pty Ltd
ThankYou!
© All rights reserved. Rob Livingstone Advisory Pty Ltd. Unauthorized redistribution prohibited
without prior approval. ‘Navigating through the Cloud’ and ‘Success is our story, let’s make it
yours’ are Trademarks of Rob Livingstone Advisory Pty Ltd.