Agile’s the word in today’s digital age. Most companies are eager to be more agile. They are looking to restructure their delivery teams to improve their throughput and are hiring team members with cross-functional skills in product definition, delivery and deployment. Despite this, 84% of companies are failing at achieving their digital transformation goals. One of the primary reasons for this is that senior IT leaders are often not prepared for the impact that transformation has to their sphere of influence.

In order to become agile, it is imperative to move to a product delivery model, where delivery teams are structured as pods that define, deliver and own the customer journey. These pods typically sit in the business and are led by a product owner, who has functional knowledge of the customer experience and is able to define the near and long-term vision for the product. This fundamentally changes the role of the IT department and its leaders. They are no longer the core technology delivery vehicle for the company. They are giving the responsibility of defining and managing product features, functions, budgets and resources to the business. They work with the business closely to bring the product to market.

If IT leaders have not worked in a product delivery model previously, this change can be nerve-wracking, and presents a big barrier to achieving the agile transformation companies are seeking. Progressive technology leaders are excited about moving to a product delivery model because it:

• Elevates IT from a service provider to a strategist – In the digital era, all business capabilities are enabled by technology. In the legacy project delivery model, business leaders defined the vision for their business, and IT leaders were a supporting function to enable this business vision. With advances in mobile and cloud technology, this business-first and technology-second mindset has undergone a seismic shift: Business and technology operate as one inseparable unit. This means that technology leaders now have a seat at the table when key business decisions are being made. IT is now a key player in the business - more so than ever before.

• Positions IT as a key enabler of the product vision – While IT partners with the business to define the business priorities and capabilities of the products, it is the leader when it comes to defining the data, integration and infrastructure components that power the product vision. IT continues to own and be responsible for making sure that enterprise standards for data management, information security and infrastructure architecture are built into the product feature set. In addition, the function will continue to own and be responsible for the networks and storage that the products will use. Without these enabling capabilities, the product model will not work.

• Builds empowered teams with an increased likelihood of success – The product delivery model shifts decision-making to team members that are closest to the customer, and encourages them take ownership for their decisions. E.g. Product Owners are responsible for funding their product teams and achieving the business benefits expected from the product feature set. When each team member turns into an active, creative and thoughtful decision-maker, it increases the chances of success for the overall IT organization.

Companies are moving to a product delivery model to be more agile in today’s rapidly changing world. The sooner technologists accept and adapt to their changing role in this new world, the more successful they will be. Salesforce has a proven approach to helping our customers navigate the challenges presented by digital transformation. Learn about it in our Playbook for Customer Success.