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The future of corporate IT
IT企業的未來
Surfing a digital wave, or drowning?
數字時代浪頭的弄潮兒還是浪下溺死鬼？
Information technology is everywhere.For companies'IT departments, that is a mixed blessing
信息技術無處不在，這點對于一個公司的IT部門來說禍福相依。
There is still plenty going on in the back office: the advent of cloud computing means that software can be continually updated and paid for by subscription, and that fewer companies will need their own data centres.
但是在后勤部門仍有大量這種進程：云計算的出現意味著軟件能不斷更新并被訂購，而且越來越少的公司需要建立他們自己的數據庫。
But the truly dramatic change is happening elsewhere.
但是真正戲劇性的變化卻在別處上演。
Demands for digitisation are coming from every corner of the company.
資料的數字化已經成為公司各個方面各個層次的需求。
The marketing department would like to run digital campaigns.
市場部門想發起數字化運動；
Sales teams want seamless connections to customers as well as to each other.
銷售團隊想與客戶及彼此保持親密無間的關系；
Everyone wants the latest mobile device and to try out the cleverest new app.
每個人都想擁有最新潮的移動設備，使用最智能的應用軟件。
And they all want it now.
這些他們都想現在就實現。
Rich prizes beckon companies that grasp digital opportunities; ignominy awaits those that fail.
抓住數字化機遇的公司得到了豐厚的回報，忽略它的公司則沒有得到它的眷顧。
Some are seizing their chance.
而有些則正在把握機遇。
Burberry, a posh British fashion chain, has dressed itself in IT from top to toe.
Burberry, 一個高檔的英國時尚連鎖店，從頭到腳都包裝上了信息科技。
Clever in-store screens show off its clothes.
智能的店內屏幕展示他們的服裝。
Employees confer on Burberry Chat, an internal social network.
員工們則在其內部社交網Burberry Chat上商討事宜。
This may explain why Apple has poached Angela Ahrendts, Burberry's chief executive, to run its own shops.
這或許解釋了為何蘋果公司挖走了Burberry的前主管Angela Ahrendts去經營自己店面的原因。
In theory, this is a fine opportunity for the IT department to place itself right at the centre of corporate strategy.
理論上，這是IT部門將自己置于公司戰略中心的絕佳機會。
In practice, the rest of the company is not always sure that the IT guys are up to the job—and they are often prepared to buy their own IT from outsiders if need be.
而事實上公司其他部門通常都不確信IT部門那些家伙是對工作負責的，于是需要的話，他們常會打算去外面購買自己公司的信息科技。
Worse, it seems that a lot of IT guys doubt their own ability to keep up with the pace of the digital age.
更糟糕的是，IT部門的這些家伙也開始懷疑自己的能力是否跟上了數字化時代的發展潮流。
According to Dave Aron of Gartner, a research firm, in a recent survey of chief information officers around the world just over half agreed that both their businesses and their IT organisations were in real danger from a digital tsunami.
據調查公司Dave Aron of Gartner一項最新的調查表明，全球首席信息官一半以上都表示他們的生意和IT組織都在數字化的風暴中面臨危險。
Some feel excited, some feel threatened, says Mr Aron, but nobody feels like it's boring and business as usual.
Aron先生說：有人感覺興奮，有人感到被威脅，但沒人覺得無趣，大家依舊照常做生意
One reason for worry is that IT bosses are conservative by habit and with good reason.
擔憂的其中一個原因是IT的大佬們習慣性的比較守舊，畢竟他們得保證必要的系統安全正常的運行。
Above all they must keep essential systems running—and safe. Those systems are under continual attack.If they are breached, the head of IT carries the can.
那些系統常會遭人襲擊，一旦有缺漏，IT的頭兒就會挑起大梁。
More broadly, IT departments like to know who is up to what.
更廣泛的說，IT部門喜歡分工明確。
Many of them gave up one battle long ago, by letting staff choose their own smartphones. When the chief executive insists on an iPhone rather than a fogeyish BlackBerry, it is hard to refuse.
他們通過讓員工選擇自己的智能耳機結束了很久以前為這的爭斗。當公司董事長堅持iPhone而不是之前的BlackBerry，這真的很難拒絕。
That has been no bad thing, given the enormous number of applications being churned out for Apple's devices and those using Google's Android operating system, many of which can do wonders for productivity.
這也不是壞事，蘋果設備和那些使用谷歌安卓操作系統的許多應用程序能極大地提高生產效率，問題是如何在人們喜歡用在工作上的應用程序上也貼上這種標簽。
The trouble lies in keeping tabs on all the apps people like to use for work. With cloud-based file-sharing services or social media, it is easy to share information and to switch from a PC in the office to a mobile device. But if people are careless, they may put confidential data at risk.
有了云計算文件分享設備和社交媒體后，分享信息或者從辦公室個人電腦里轉存信息到移動設備上也變得十分容易，但是如果不慎，機密文件就會處在危險之中。
They may run up bills as well. Many applications cost nothing for the first few users but charges kick in once they catch on.
它們或許會讓你的賬戶瞬間歸零，很多的應用程序在使用之初都是免費的，而一旦用戶進一步使用，收費則接踵而來。
The digital world, however, runs faster than the typical IT department's default speed.
然而數字世界的運行比IT部門缺席的速度要快得多。
Other bits of the business are not always willing to wait.
其他部門大都不愿等待。
Marketing, desperate to use digital wiles to woo customers and to learn what they are thinking, is especially impatient.
市場部格外亟需使用數字化手段引導顧客想他們之所想。
Forrester, another research firm, estimates that marketing departments' spending on IT is rising two to three times as fast as that of companies as a whole.
另一家調查公司Forrester估計市場部在IT上的花銷上漲是整個公司花銷上漲幅度的二到三倍。
Almost one in three marketers thinks the IT department hinders success.
幾乎三分之一的營銷人員都認為IT部門阻礙了公司的發展。
The IT crowd worry that haste has hidden costs.
IT界則擔憂匆忙會有隱性成本。
The marketers, points out Vijay Gurbaxani of the Centre for Digital Transformation at the University of California, Irvine, will not build in redundancy and disaster recovery, so that not all is lost if projects go awry. To the cautious folk in IT departments, this is second nature.
營銷人員指出加州大學歐文分校數字轉換中心的Vijay Gurbaxani程序不會建立在冗余和災難恢復之上，因此一旦項目出錯，我們并不會失去所有。對IT部門謹慎的員工來說，這是第二天性。
A lack of resources does not help.
缺乏資源無濟于事。
Corporate budgets everywhere are under strain, and IT is often still seen as a cost rather than as a source of new business models and revenues.
公司預算處處吃緊，而IT部門作為新的商業模式和渠道仍被視作入不敷出—盡管有諸多關于命令上的分歧，
A lot of IT heads, indeed, report to the chief financial officer—although opinions differ about how much formal lines of command matter.
許多的IT首腦也的確向首席財政官如此匯報。
But even if money is not in short supply, bodies are.
但是盡管不缺資金投入，卻缺人手。
When the whole company is looking for new ways to put technology to work, the IT department cannot do it all.
當整個公司正想方設法使用科技手段時，IT部門卻什么都做不了。
Corporate IT bosses are right to fear being overwhelmed.
IT企業老板害怕被超越是理所當然的。
But cleaving to their old tasks and letting others take on the new unsupervised is not an option. Forrester calls this a titanic mistake.
但是撇開他們過去的任務讓別人來承擔有沒有監管卻不是個法子。Forrester把這個稱作titanic mistake。
The IT department is not about to die, even if many functions ascend to the cloud.
即使很多功能上升到云，IT部門仍不會湮滅。
However, those of its chiefs who cannot adapt may fade away.
然而那些適應不了的IT主管或許會淡去。
