We are only halfway into the digital revolution. Our society is becoming increasingly reliant on information technology, but there are still plenty more changes to come. To adapt, organizations will have to alter their ways of working and how they do business. And the IT department as we know it will disappear.

The impact of the digital revolution for the individual and society will lead to what I call the “new normal” — an era in which we will expect everything to be digital. I like to compare this revolution to a swimming pool: for the past 30 years, we have been wading in the shallow end, with our feet firmly on the bottom.

There is no indication that we will be comfortable swimming in the deep end. Getting to the other end of the pool will be difficult and, if we make it, we will enter a world with new rules. Organizations and professionals must decide if they are up to the challenge and can adapt.

A new set of rules now governs our lives. Consumers have developed zero tolerance for digital failure. They demand access to the Internet wherever they go, and instant access to their information from any device imaginable. However, they do not ask for perfection: MP3 delivers good enough audio; Skype offers good enough communications. So, we live in an era of “good enough” technology.

These changes in consumer behavior are disruptive for companies. They must understand that they are working in a 24-hour economy (for instance, publishing a catalog twice a year is not enough anymore) where consumers expect interaction at all times and on their terms. And they expect this digital experience to be interesting and easy. As a result, every interaction with a consumer is a chance to win or lose a customer.

Build tents, not pyramids

This new consumer attitude will bring dramatic changes for IT departments, which have traditionally brought together large groups of technical people to make intricate constructions to support complex procedures. These constructions took many years to build, just like pyramids. However, many a pharaoh did not live to see his pyramid finished; and sometimes CIOs do not last long enough in an organization to witness the completion of their IT master plan.

We no longer get the time to build pyramids. IT needs to adapt so quickly to the changing market environment that we’re better off setting up tents rather than pyramids. Tents are cheap, and easy to erect and replace.

In the “old normal,” IT needed technical experts. The new normal demands professionals who think like business leaders, driving innovation through the deployment of technology.

Building innovative projects is the new task of the department that we used to call IT. The big question for you as a CIO: Are you ready for this?  

• Peter Hinssen is an author, lecturer and entrepreneur. He runs the consulting firm Across Technology and is the author of Business/IT Fusion and The New Normal.

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