Our CTO Jaco Vermeulen contributes to this great piece in Raconteur.
Perhaps counterintuitively, one of the key considerations for any organisation facing such problems isn’t really about the technology. First and foremost, its leaders must take a step back and look at the wider business with a critical eye.
That’s the view of Jaco Vermeulen, a seasoned chief technology officer who has served in senior interim roles at Park Holidays and the Post Office and is now CTO at consultancy BML Digital. He stresses that it’s crucial for firms to analyse how they have ended up in the situation they’re in and what they need to change to escape it. Part of doing this is accepting that tech investments must be treated as a core strategic concern.
The ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ maxim is a “very dogmatic approach”, Vermeulen says. “The ‘we’re making profits, so why must we invest in tech?’ approach is the sign of a legacy mindset, where technology is seen as something sitting in a corner, rather a critical part of the business.”
