There was a time when an organization could continue operating even when the ICT department was unavailable. Computers might be slow, email might be interrupted, or a printer might stop working, but the core business could still continue. ICT was largely seen as a back-office function: the team that maintained computers, fixed the internet, managed email, installed software, and responded whenever something broke.
That world has changed. Today, when critical technology fails, the business can stop. Customers cannot access services. Staff cannot work. Payments cannot be processed. Decisions are delayed.
Data may be lost or exposed. Reputational damage can spread within minutes, followed by financial, regulatory, and operational consequences.
Technology is now embedded in how organizations generate value, serve customers, manage risk, control costs and compete. Yet many organizations still position, fund, and govern ICT according to an outdated support model.
This mismatch is becoming increasingly dangerous. As dependence on digital platforms,cloud services, data, cybersecurity, automation, and artificial intelligence grows, boards and leaders must ask a more fundamental question: What role does ICT play in our business model today, and what role must it play in the future? One way of answering this question is by considering four possible roles. ICT primarily enables employees to perform their day-to-day responsibilities.
The continuity of the organization’s core services is not heavily dependent on technology. If systems fail, operations may be inconvenienced, but the organization can continue functioning. Technology is critical to daily operations. If systems become unavailable, key business processes are immediately disrupted or brought to a halt. ICT is essential for keeping the organization running, although it may not yet be viewed as a major driver of innovation or growth.
ICT is expected to drive future innovation, transformation, and new ways of working. The organization may not yet be completely dependent on technology for its current operations, but it recognizes that technology will be central to improving services, redesigning processes, and increasing efficiency.
Technology is critical both to running the organization and shaping its future. It is directly connected to the business model, customer experience, service delivery, operational efficiency, risk management, competitiveness, and long-term growth. In this role, ICT does not merely support the business; it helps shape its direction and success.
The rise of artificial intelligence and automation makes this assessment even more urgent. These technologies are not merely ICT investments; they reshape operating models, workforce requirements, governance, risk, customer experience, and organizational competitiveness.
Once ICT’s role is clear, its reporting lines, investment, skills, governance, and decision-making authority must reflect the value it creates and the risks it carries. An organization may not reach true digital transformation while treating ICT as a peripheral support function.
Success requires positioning, funding, and governing the ICT function according to the role it plays today and the role the organization expects it to play in the future.