The business IT industry is full of Cloud Computing apparatchiks, but few are as experienced as Lee Provoost of the London-based social business consultancy Headshift.

And Provoost says that many of today's business Internet start-ups will be highly disruptive to established business models within just a few years.

 

Writing in his blog for the 360°IT - The IT Infrastructure Event Web site, Provoost, who is an expert on enterprise social software and technology strategy, says that the ability to share information - and request information - between businesses, is set to revolutionise the way we do business.

 

And this quiet revolution will, he says, disrupt the business model of established Fortune 100 companies within just two to three years.

 

Citing the example of Matchik.com, a crowdsourcing platform for design and architecture work, Provoost says the fact that anyone can put a request on the site asking people to pitch ideas changes the ballgame.

 

Matchik changes the business ballgame, he argues, because users can then select the best or cheapest.

 

"The big challenge I had was to validate Matchik's business model. If I was a British architect, I might be reluctant to participate because the platform allows architects from other countries to undercut my rates severely," he observes.

 

"But such reluctance really only shows one thing: that an established industry is set to face major disruption. If the platform works out well, it will turn the relationship between buyer and supplier in the design and architecture industry upside down," he said.

 

According to the social networking specialist, this changes the business arena of major businesses as forces a sea change on the big boys - it also requires a high degree of agility for the major companies to adapt, if they are to survive.

 

The problem the Fortune 100 companies face, he explained, is that they often have a rigid and inflexible IT infrastructure.

 

And in contrast, he says, today's start-ups don't care about IT governance and "don't have week-long risk review processes, don't have inflexible ERP systems with 15-year-old legacy systems."

 

Often, he adds, they are a bunch of twentysomething geeks in a student flat, backed by venture capital and with an idea that might very soon disrupt an established market.

 

"Quite possibly your market," he noted in his 360°IT blog.

 

So what is the solution to this rampant quantum shift in business strategy?

 

It's a simple one, argues Provoost, who says that companies of all sizes need to run their internal organisation more like a start-up.

 

They must, he said, say no to the decade-long industrialisation of processes, the famous 'process over people' approach.

 

If you run your projects like start-ups, he advises, you will end up with `product owners' who will release software early and often, without a lengthy requirements-gathering process.

 

By focusing on delivering business value first, he says, you can worry about enterprise architecture hocus-pocus later.

 

"Because the choice is stark: adapt or become obsolete," he said.

 

 

If you want to read more from Lee Provoost or comment on his 360°IT blog post visit: http://www.360itevent.com/page.cfm/action=Archive/ArchiveID=1/EntryID=100

 

Lee Bryant, Founder of Headshift is speaking on the topic of “CIO vs. CIO - The Evolution of the Species” at the 360°IT event.  360°IT - The IT Infrastructure Event, takes place on 22-23 September 2010 in Earls Court, London.  For more on 360°IT the event that demonstrates how IT infrastructure solutions can help to achieve key business objectives such as improving service, reducing cost, managing risk and gaining competitive advantage and growth visit http://www.360itevent.com

 

ENDS

About 360°IT - The IT Infrastructure Event

 

360°IT is the event dedicated to the IT community addressing the needs of IT professionals responsible for the management and development of a flexible, secure and dynamic IT infrastructure.

 

With high level strategic content, product demonstrations and technical workshops, 360°IT will provide an essential road map of current and emerging technologies to deliver end to end solutions.

 

360°IT will facilitate vendor and end user collaboration to create the IT infrastructure necessary to achieve key business objectives - improving service, reducing cost and managing risk whilst gaining competitive advantage and growth.