Systems of Engagement
Systems of Engagement (analogously: systems of cooperation ) is a term from IT strategy . It focuses on the interaction and collaboration with people (peers). Systems of Engagement are decentralized IT components that integrate technologies such as social media and the cloud to promote and enable interactions.
The term was first outlined in 2011 in a concept by the US business consultant Geoffrey Moore , who wrote in his white paper "Systems of Engagement and the Future of Enterprise IT: A Sea Change in Enterprise IT." identified the term as the next step in the evolution of the IT-enabled consumer experience in the global marketplace.
Systems of Engagement make it possible to communicate and collaborate across business boundaries, global time zones and language differences. Cultural barriers, using next-generation IT applications and infrastructures that have been adapted from the consumer space (e.g. cloud). This requires communication technologies that allow real-time connections and allow people to work together both synchronously and asynchronously.
Tools are for example:
- Wikis
- Real-time chat functions
- Crowdsourcing
- Web conferencing
- Video streams and video conferencing
Examples
- A networked washing machine delivers user data to the manufacturer. Static sales figures are enhanced by usage data.
- An intelligent running shoe in connection with a smartphone provides the customer with additional benefits through the data analysis of the individual movement pattern and through the embedding in a mobile fitness program on the smartphone
Challenges
Closed, mostly historically grown business processes have to be broken up or questioned and an ecosystem created that captures customers, partners and employees. In this way, everyone involved contributes to continuous improvement by making suggestions, ideas, initiatives and also constructive criticism.
From the point of view of a CIO , this increases the complexity of the systems and the underlying control processes. Most IT departments struggle with the fact that the existing systems are geared towards static transactions, not dynamic ones. Reverse data streams for the automatic recording of usage data are not provided in most process chains. The huge amounts of data that have to be collected and analyzed through constant interaction overwhelm the databases and data center landscapes. In addition, there are internal control processes and development models that make it impossible to react quickly to rapidly changing market conditions. Regulatory restrictions ( data protection , trade secrets , IT security , auditing obligations ) also hamper agile procedures.
Risks
In many cases, initial attempts and pilot projects are financed and managed directly by the business. The proliferation of many small isolated solutions can lead to an expensive shadow IT infrastructure. Specially funded start-ups, detached from corporate processes, deliver good ideas that are difficult or difficult to integrate into existing IT infrastructure environments.