The term "ambidextrous attitude" describes an organisational approach that takes both of these opposing requirements into account. A different corporate culture and a new type of organisational structure are the fundamental prerequisite for leveraging the full potential of IT as the nucleus of all company activities. IT will only be able to take on an ambidextrous attitude when people drive forward its development. Two roles that are of particular importance in this respect are Chief Information Officer (CIO) and the Chief Digital Officer (CDO). The CIO is a firm fixture for most companies. The CDO, on the other hand, is a new player entering the game.

The second field of action is cloud-native thinking. Today, a no-cloud strategy could just as well be a no-business strategy. The use of cloud technologies and processes makes a whole world of benefits possible: lower costs, faster processes, greater scalability and improved stability. Defining the right strategy helps businesses benefit from these advantages, without any of the adverse effects such as vendor lock-in, data protection uncertainty and a loss of control. However, simply lifting and shifting applications into the cloud is not enough. The cloud can only be used to its full potential if those responsible plan and implement their development and infrastructure to be cloud-native right from day one.

Last but not least, there's data-mindedness. Lots of companies are sitting on mountains of data, but have not even begun to tap its potential. Data can become a competitive advantage that turns entire industries upside down. That is why an optimised data flow should determine the structure of the organisation and how internal processes are designed. The CIO and their team are responsible for proper data handling, from data gathering to data assessment and utilisation. This gives them all the tools necessary to elaborate new business ideas and better processes in collaboration with the divisions.

I am convinced that an IT which has fully and competently mastered these fields of action and their interplay is fit to take on its new role. The New School of IT offers companies an organisational framework and gives recommendations for action with the aim of getting IT a seat at the decision makers' table. Only IT can evaluate technologies, assess their impact and develop solutions. IT must a have a say when business leaders are plotting the future course of their companies.

*Prof. Dr Volker Gruhn is the founder and Supervisory Board Chairman of adesso as well as professor for software engineering at the University of Duisburg-Essen.

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adesso AG published this content on 18 November 2021 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 18 November 2021 08:11:08 UTC.