Transforming IT from Servant to Strategic Partner
By Pam Baker
When companies start to think about streamlining operations, the IT department is often among the first to be flagged. To survive, IT leaders must demonstrate that their department serves a strategic role in the organization's future. For many IT groups, that's a big change.
Redesigning IT's role starts with reorganizing its priorities. Senior IT leaders must focus on two points: how to make money for the enterprise and how to save money for the enterprise. Those two ends are the means to transform the IT department from a useful servant to a valued strategic partner.
"For the longest time, IT was where the gnarly IT heroes lived," explains Ray Paquet, an analyst with Gartner in Billerica, Mass. "Without so much as a 'by your leave,' they rode in, solved thorny problems and then rode away again."
But that image of the solitary techno-wizard single-handedly saving the day has gone the way of the modem. Today's IT heroes are MVPs who know how to be team players and help the entire enterprise achieve victory.
Be a Profit Prophet
This new wave of IT leaders knows that the entire IT operation must be geared more towards solid overall business successes so that it can be recognized by everyone, as opposed to arcane tech advancements obvious to only a select few.
"We want to buy magic, but technology is not magic," says Paquet. "It's time to realize Houdini died and get on with making decisions based on delivering profit. Instead of trying to amaze or pacify your customers, begin to think and act like a business partner. Justify everything you do against specific business goals."
The key to success: Focus on business impact rather than technology for technology's sake. (article continues)
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