IT leaders and key staff must internalize the fact that they must be leaders company-wide, with all the boldness, responsibility, and glory that goes along with it.
IT leaders struggle with their reputation. It's not their personal reputations (let's assume), but rather, that of IT among non-IT people in the company.
The majority of people view IT as a cost center. And in many companies, IT acts as if it’s a cost center--spending money on IT projects and operations simply to keep the lights on, or spending without spending the time or energy truly understanding the business case.
The more successful IT departments (and in turn, businesses overall) are those whose IT departments are truly strategic assets to the company. In Nemertes' own thought leadership on this topic, combined with research we have conducted, some common themes emerge among strategic-asset IT organizations. We have broken these down into 10 steps (each of which has numerous sub-steps) that help IT organizations shift their reputation from that of an IT cost center or utility to that of a strategic asset.
The 10 steps are defined in Figure 1: 10-Step Process for IT/Business Success.
The first step for IT leaders is to lead on solving key business issues, rather than avoid them. Can technology solve most problems in an organization? No, but it can solve many of them--even when they don't seem like an IT problem on the surface. (In fact, those are the best problems for IT to solve!)
That means IT staffs must embrace the most pressing business or operational issues. For example, they could lead in green IT (provide solutions for energy reduction and a virtual workplace), improved customer service (enable new contact-center technologies to provide new touchpoints), customer/patient/student satisfaction (determine how technology can improve key problems identified in satisfaction surveys), or work/life balance (build the case for video and telepresence to reduce travel.)
One benefit of this approach is that it provides job security—particularly as a growing number of companies eye outsourcing as a way to cut costs while receiving 24 x 7 service. By positioning IT as instrumental in problem-solving, business leaders begin relying more upon the IT organization. That results in a higher-profile IT staff, whose opinion carries weight when the company must make tough decisions on strategy, budgets, and layoffs.
Taking leadership of key business problems has other benefits, too. By demonstrating a solution to a problem, IT can gain support--and perhaps even budget--from specific business units that will benefit from said solution. And, individuals who uncover or resolve problems may find they are rising stars within the company, positioning themselves for promotions, bonuses, and raises. But more importantly to most IT folks: They're doing the right thing for the business. This sounds altruistic, but we have found it's part of the IT and engineering DNA to do something that is right, solves problems, and makes a difference at the company.
Once IT leaders and key staff have internalized the fact that they must be leaders company-wide, with all the boldness, responsibility, and glory that goes along with it, they must scour offices, cubicles, and video screens to identify the people who can help them. These people come from both within IT and within the business units.
Specific projects generally have a specific champion, who will vary based on the project. For example, the head of facilities may be engaged in a build versus buy data-center project. Human resources may be involved with a decision on telecommuting. The head of marketing may want buy-in on anything related to the corporate green strategy. And the head of legal may be a natural advocate for compliance initiatives. Investigate who stands the most to gain or lose from the project, and engage him or her to help develop and promote the solution.
The optimal set-up resides within companies that have business-technology liaisons--individuals who understand both technology and business, can speak both languages, and have responsibility to both the business units and IT.
There are, however, problems with a liaison program. Companies may establish liaisons and find they operate in a vacuum. The liaisons end up favoring either business or technology. They don't keep in regular contact with IT to understand the latest projects and strategies. They can wield too much influence or worse, not enough. And, the people in the group simply may be the wrong people.
Regardless of who the liaison reports to, he or she must feel a sense of identity with the business unit (whether it's because of personal interest, geographic location, etc.) that the company can foster by having the liaison participate in meetings and social events with the group.
For companies that can afford this approach, it typically requires some new thinking along with a change in the reporting structure for business and technology to align successfully. In the next column, I'll review that reporting structure and how to make it work in your organization.
