Time for the business to stop thinking of IT or technology as a necessary evil or cost center, and look to it to become a business enabler. As global business strategies place a new emphasis on growth, CIOs understand that IT needs to change versus return to the way it was prior to the economic downturn. IT management needs a new strategy that can enable their company to balance driving growth with cutting costs now while making their infrastructure safer and more efficient, flexible, and innovative.
Impossible? Not impossible, but will require time, resources and effort. Start with sitting down with the business to identify their business capabilities they need to drive business growth. Take those business capabilities needed and put some structure around them, you will get a big list. Work the list down to the top 10 or so and start mapping IT enabling capabilities to them. How can IT support and help deliver those top 10 capabilities? IT will quickly become a business partner and position IT as an enabler of business growth.
This is more than just a one time exercise, this is a step you need to take with the business on a regular basis. Business climate changes, technology changes, and the focus needs to be adjusted. This effort will ensure IT and the business are in sync and working together.
So what about the comments IT is becoming less technology and more business? How about business savvy technologists? I think IT needs to become more business aware, but that does not mean we are less technical in nature. There are more external sources now, more solutions that a vendor supported, and the list goes on, but there will always be a need for technical staff in IT.
Sharpen up your business and customer service skills, they are needed. The business has to grow, be successful and competitive for everyone to win, including IT.
Keep it positive!
Scott Arnett
scott.arnett@charter.net
About Me
- Scott Arnett
- Scott Arnett is an Information Technology & Security Professional Executive with over 30 years experience in IT. Scott has worked in various industries such as health care, insurance, manufacturing, broadcast, printing, and consulting and in enterprises ranging in size from $50M to $20B in revenue. Scott’s experience encompasses the following areas of specialization: Leadership, Strategy, Architecture, Business Partnership & Acumen, Process Management, Infrastructure and Security. With his broad understanding of technology and his ability to communicate successfully with both Executives and Technical Specialists, Scott has been consistently recognized as someone who not only can "Connect the Dots", but who can also create a workable solution. Scott is equally comfortable playing technical, project management/leadership and organizational leadership roles through experience gained throughout his career. Scott has previously acted in the role of CIO, CTO, and VP of IT, successfully built 9 data centers across the country, and is expert in understanding ITIL, PCI Compliance, SOX, HIPAA, FERPA, FRCP and COBIT.
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