Don’t do IT yourself: The trick to ensuring business alignment

Additionally, it’s crazy to think today’s CIOs will be so smart that they alone can determine the best IT systems for the company. For that, business leaders must hold up their side of the conversation. The ITSC gives them the opportunity to help set the IT agenda for their own needs — and holds them to it.

‘IT is too rigid. Our plans change all the time’: This may be true for your business, and IT must be prepared to change priorities as quickly as needed. But the ITSC gives a framework for ensuring changes to the plan are strategic, fully vetted with line of business involvement, and prioritized.

‘I don’t understand technology. That’s IT’s job’: Yes,  senior executives do not need to understand how the sausage is made. But they must make sure the right sausage is made. The ITSC has nothing to do with the bits and bytes but rather the best use of the company’s resources, in this case IT, which is every executive’s job.

‘How should I know what new technologies are out there to exploit?’: Remember, the CIO must be a member of the ITSC and has a twofold role: (1) Participate and opine on what the company needs, and (2) be up-to-date on disruptive emerging technologies.

That said, C-level executives should at least try to be aware of technologies emerging in their area and bring them to the attention of IT.

Success is in sharing the burden

Given the importance of technology to business success today, if a company feels it is right to allow the CIO to make all prioritizing decisions for IT, then it is placing the future of the company in the CIO’s hands alone.

Certainly, the CIO should have a voice in these decisions, but the agenda must be driven by corporate consensus. Most IT systems take a long time to implement and a lot of corporate resources. And once it is up and running, any given IT system will be the method that the company uses to do its business for a long time.

There are very few initiatives that a company embarks on today that don’t involve IT systems. By establishing an ITSC, not only will your organization be better positioned to capitalize on its goals, but the CIO will also never be asked why IT is not working on a particular project, because everyone was involved in those decisions as part of the steering committee.

In my book The 9 1/2 Secrets of a Great IT Organization the subtitle reads “Don’t Do IT Yourself.” IT must be considered an integral part of the modern corporation and it must accept the judgment of all departments to ensure the company can reach its potential and achieve corporate goals.