Page 4 - Issue 2 2023

OPINION

Cut the jargon if you want to deliver

value against customer needs

By Ian Wilson, Commercial Territory Lead at Altron Karabina

s you read this, the last thing you expect - or want - to read about is the author
unpacking the best ideas, pivoting and then circling back to close the loop,
Awhere we will touch base offline. While it may signify blue sky thinking that
moves the needle, it may require a deep dive at a later date to ideate fresh solutions for
old pain points.
Jargon, really, is hot air. It is distracting at best and misleading at worst. Why, then, is
the technology industry awash with TLAs (three-letter acronyms) and enough jargon to
write a dictionary?
Recently, while sitting among a group of technical experts and business executives
someone asked: “How are you doing with hydrating your data lake?” Take a moment
to consider that question. The problem with these clever catchphrases or jargon-rich
cliches, is that someone else hears this, thinks it was catchy, and before long they use it
in another context with another customer or group of technical people. And, like a virus,
it spreads quickly, becoming a jargon pandemic.
Altron Karabina, as you may know, is a Microsoft partner, meaning we design
solutions using the incredible Microsoft suite. If you’ve ever been to a convention of IT Ian Wilson
experts or been in a room where experts throw around ideas, you know you will need to
keep Google (or Bing, depending on your preference) handy to look up the plethora of
acronyms. success or not. These are client value
Has the industry really devolved to the point where no one besides our peers can outcomes and become the blueprint to
understand us? This is a massive problem considering our primary objective is driving check performance and progress against
positive change in customers’ businesses. - not hours spent or solutions integrated.
Put simply, it is the job of an IT consultant to understand the business objectives and By having these conversations, in
then figure out how he or she will drive business outcomes using the technology tools at simple business language, a partner
their disposal. Essentially, this means we should be business outcome-focused instead can be crystal clear on the business
of obsessed with ticking KPI boxes such as the number of hours spent, burndown rate, outcomes and then architect that into
and more. What was the impact on the business? a technical solution. Then, during a
Altron Karabina has written about its work with The Aurum Institute recently. project and once it is delivered, success
MD Collin Govender reminisces how, at a certain point, it became obvious that the is measured against the C-suite’s real
implementation of the solutions was diverging from the actual business objectives of expectations. This is the recipe for
Aurum. The project was stopped and leaders on both sides of the relationship thrashed success.
out what business outcomes the institute needed to see. A new solution was designed Digital transformation is a long
specifically to achieve those outcomes. The result was an implementation that was a journey, and the most spectacular
resounding success. failures are expensive implementations
The last thing you want as a consultant is to design a brand new system just like the that were embarked upon for
old system, and this is a very real risk if you are obsessed with KPI box-ticking, which is technology’s sake. A good first step
exacerbated by a culture of excessive IT jargon in the absence of real communication. at preventing this from happening is
In situations such as these, people dive head first into technology and go down a cutting the jargon, ruthlessly, and then
rabbit hole that becomes a “tech for tech’s sake” exercise. When reporting along the listening and communicating simply
journey to the customer, jargon-rich dialogue masks the absence of a key question: is but honestly with the businesses you
what you are doing to achieve real business objectives? wish to improve. You then ensure
One may feel that this is easier said than done. On the contrary, it is easier done the absolute best technical skills are
than said. At the outset, from the very first engagement, there needs to be honest assembled to build and implement
and open communication that leads to a contract outlining the conditions of customer against this crystal clear understanding
satisfaction. These are the conditions that would determine whether the project is a of the client’s value outcomes.

4 | EngineerIT Issue 2 | 2023 SUBSCRIBE FREE