IT Fireworks Fly
Enterprise IT is rife with conflicts that have the potential to set off fireworks on any day of the year.
When I interviewed Krishnan Chatterjee, chief marketing officer for offshore IT and software development company HCL back in January, he referred to CIOs as "a rather beleaguered lot." He was referring to the loss of control brought by software-as-a-service and mobile devices while also being expected to drive new growth for the business.
In her post, "Blowing up the IT Department" at FIN, Susan Cramm, founder and president of IT coaching firm Valuedance, draws a distinction between enterprise IT and innovative IT:
... with innovative IT, business units and their teams become responsible for satisfying their day-to-day needs on their own. Instead of waiting for IT to buy a phone or computer, they purchase one from an approved vendor. Rather than wait for IT to design and develop a new report or change the work flow or business logic in an existing system, they use a tool kit provided by IT to do so.
IT shifts to more of a support role. It empowers business unit self-sufficiency by providing education, coaching, tools and rules, which allow for individuals to meet their needs in a way that protects the overall needs of the enterprise (for example, ensuring accurate and safe data, integrating business processes and promoting collaboration).
She concedes that's difficult to achieve. IT doesn't want to cede control and business leaders don't want to assume it. She advocates developing IT-savvy business leaders who are clearly held accountable for using technology to reach business goals. She says it should be written into their job descriptions and be part of the hiring process. She also says this benefits the IT department:
It is a "win" for the IT department because it will elevate IT's role, and impact on the business, by dramatically increasing the capacity for innovation.
They live and breathe in the business all day long.
Eric Knorr at InfoWorld also advocates empowering business users in his post, "How to be a modern CIO." His other advice:
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