Do you speak IT?
I recently had a discussion with an IT leader that is facing exponential growth in his company. At some point his job changed from managing desktops and keeping the lights on to prioritizing projects and trying to find new solutions that can keep up with the changes happening at their organization. He struggles with the common issue that many IT leaders face; helping his company understand the value proposition of IT. The leadership at his organization see IT as a cost center. They want their projects done but don't understand the cost impacts or staffing requirements created with adding technology solutions.
Throughout the week, with every connection, this discussion kept popping up.
On the reverse, one of my contacts was a new CIO at a corporation who had completely transformed the structure of the company; revamped their entire core systems, all new applications, and had reduced their IT staff size by two thirds. The amount of influence this IT leader had in his organization was extensive. They had him sitting at the table for all major decisions the company was making.
Another connection said that they don't need to be at the table but everything they do is driven by business needs. They serve the business.
One of the common threads of conversation was the importance of speaking about IT using business language. On a transcript for one of our member WebForums about the ROI of IT, a member expert discussed the need to speak about every project in profit and loss and to have the individual departments (those sponsoring the projects) do the cost analysis to determine if the project was worth moving forward on. Other WebForums on Project Prioritization focused on measuring projects using a matrix with company objectives comparing costs, risk, needs, and time to implement among other criteria.
I'm interested in hearing about your stories. What kind of relationship do you have with your core business teams? Are you partners or a service to the organization? Are you speaking IT or do you speak in the language of profit and loss?