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BIMODAL IT FRAMEWORK – Research, Discussions and Best Practices

Investing in a new generation technology advancements and leveraging it for digital transformation without impacting the existing legacy environment are the daunting challenges that global CXO’s currently experiencing. Bimodal IT is an answer to these enterprise challenges. 

Gartner Research’s bimodal IT framework recognizes that traditional development practices are no longer sufficient for organizations with growing enterprise application demand. Instead, the bimodal IT strategy calls for two parallel tracks that support rapid application development for digital innovation priorities, alongside existing application maintenance and operational stabilization projects.

Definition as per Gartner’s Research:

According to Gartner, Bimodal is the practice of managing two separate but coherent styles of work: one focused on predictability; the other on exploration.

Mode 1 is optimized for areas that are more predictable and well-understood. It focuses on exploiting what is known, while renovating the legacy environment into a state that is fit for a digital world.

Mode 2 is exploratory, experimenting to solve new problems and optimized for areas of uncertainty.

 By separating into two modes, IT teams can ensure that they have the right people, process, and technology to support business initiatives without impacting long-term maintenance projects.

According to a CIO of a leading company the keys to her successful implementation of Gartner’s framework were:

  • A small team with high-performing, poly-skilled team members
  • Focusing on new, user-facing applications or products
  • Business buy-in and participation
  • The ability to collocate (i.e., have their own work space)
  • A dedicated hardware/development infrastructure

Another CIO quotes that bimodal best practices check list includes:

  • Open lines of communication
  • Providing developers in both the Mode 2 and citizen developer camps with a standardized development platform so apps can be integrated-into and supported-by Mode 1 IT and so good apps can be easily shared across the organization.

While there is a lot being said about the Bimodal IT model, People also claim that this concept is not new and forward thinking IT departments have been running like this for a long time.

However few things have changed. Now  there are more tools and methods that developers can use; DevOps, high level programming languages like Perl and Python, PaaS platforms like Salesforce.com And there is a heightened business imperative to move new, often digital, products and services to market faster and to streamline operations and processes to support digital transformation.

We believe that a proper strategy needs to be planned out before implementing Bimodal IT in any organization and  there should be clear vision that the project is realistic and doable .

    04-08-2017         10 : 59 AM

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