IT strategies 'must take shared services into account'

Oct 8 2008 9:29AM

The future direction of IT delivery is moving towards shared services, according to an industry report.

Organisations should therefore give due consideration to the methods and models likely to be utilised in order to deliver IT as a shared service, it adds.

Research and Markets' IT Strategy and Architecture: Creating an Enterprise Model to Support IT Strategic Planning report states that factors such as distribution, competence and flexibility influence how IT is consumed.

It explains that the impact of these issues on IT strategy focuses attention on what is delivered, to whom and when, according to the commentary.

"This may be a combination of different delivery mechanisms to suit the organisation’s specific requirements – in other words the belief is that a one-size-fits-all approach will not be appropriate," the report continues.

Organisations must address what the report calls the "growing dislocation" between business requirements and IT deliverables in order to improve competitiveness, it suggests.

A survey published last week by Capita Software Services revealed that shared services need to be reliable and delivers services cost effectively.

It said shared services can help gain economies of scale.