4 ms·

I think his paragraph on outsourcing and "core competencies" is spot on. I would take it a bit further, however, since another consequence of this is IT trying

by kfk 7y ago

I think his paragraph on outsourcing and "core competencies" is spot on. I would take it a bit further, however, since another consequence of this is IT trying to buy every solution from an external software vendor (Oracle, SAP, MuleSoft, etc.). The word "custom" becomes a "bad word" and IT uses it whenever there is an effort to build software internally. Unfortunately very often external vendor solutions are not apt to the task in big corporations. There is also the issue that each vendor implements its own database and very quickly in IT you spend most of your time "integrating" solutions with each other, especially writes as the article author points out. The issue of trust is also real, but I noticed that if you build a strong team with a strong "internal brand" you can drive a lot of the execution and technical decision making from there (the world used for these teams in enterprise is "CoE's" but I mean something a bit more substantial by that than what you usually read around). The thing is that in reality your CEO doesn't care about your technical implementation details. This is a blessing and a curse. The blessing part is that if you offer a team with a brand and a vision that has collected some internal trust from multiple parties over a couple of years, you might be able to take your own technical decisions independently from IT or other departments around the world. As for the technical part of this, I am not an expert, but security, RBAC and friends are hard problems, I'd be surprised if you find a vendor that can do this for all your edge cases. I'd be for a fully internally built solution. But again, no expert.

PaulAJ 7y ago
"Core competencies" is a widely misunderstood term. Lots of people equate it to "business model", as in "we sell widgets so therefore selling widgets is our core competence". A thing is a core competence if, and only if: * It makes a difference to your customers. * It is difficult for your competitors to replicate. * It provides access to a wide range of markets. Janitorial services, as the OP says, do not tick any of these boxes (unless you are a restaurant or something, in which case it ticks the first). Black and Decker's core competence is not selling cheap hand tools, it is making small electric motors. Think about it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_competency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_competency IT frequently ticks all three: if your IT goes down your customers may know about it before you do. Your IT is going to be difficult for competitors to replicate (as long as you haven't outsourced the whole thing), and you can use that IT in lots of different markets. However there are too many senior managers who have heard the words "core competence", not read the article, and assumed that since they are not running an IT company it follows that IT is not a core competence.
- jarofgreen 7y ago
  Check out Wardley mapping - interesting technique to get teams discussing what is a commodity part of their business and what is something custom that really benefits them to do in-house. I agree people often judge this wrong, and it's an important point to raise.

by kfk 7y ago

PaulAJ 7y ago

"Core competencies" is a widely misunderstood term. Lots of people equate it to "business model", as in "we sell widgets so therefore selling widgets is our core competence". A thing is a core competence if, and only if: * It makes a difference to your customers. * It is difficult for your competitors to replicate. * It provides access to a wide range of markets. Janitorial services, as the OP says, do not tick any of these boxes (unless you are a restaurant or something, in which case it ticks the first). Black and Decker's core competence is not selling cheap hand tools, it is making small electric motors. Think about it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_competency https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_competency IT frequently ticks all three: if your IT goes down your customers may know about it before you do. Your IT is going to be difficult for competitors to replicate (as long as you haven't outsourced the whole thing), and you can use that IT in lots of different markets. However there are too many senior managers who have heard the words "core competence", not read the article, and assumed that since they are not running an IT company it follows that IT is not a core competence.

jarofgreen 7y ago
Check out Wardley mapping - interesting technique to get teams discussing what is a commodity part of their business and what is something custom that really benefits them to do in-house. I agree people often judge this wrong, and it's an important point to raise.