This was one of the interesting questions raised in “Why the New Normal Could Kill IT” by Thomas Wailgum (CIO Magazine, March 12, 2010). Wailgum highlights a Catch -22 situation: IT is too big to fail at most companies, but IT is also misaligned with today’s “new normal” business requirements. Here is an excerpt of what Wailgum wrote:

The subsequent global financial meltdown and Great Recession forced companies to scrutinize and examine factors that once never saw the light of day. For IT, in particular, a harsh light finally glared on unfavorable licensing agreements and much-too-much shelfware; ill-conceived purchasing and integration strategies; and questionable software married to entrenched business processes. And non-IT executives seated at the boardroom table were more than likely horrified by what they found during closer inspection of IT’s operations.

In many corners of the corporate HQ, in fact, there are plenty of execs who, from time to time, would probably take pleasure in watching IT fail, a la Lehman Brothers. This most recent inspection of IT’s ledgers and strategy probably amplified that feeling.

But those frustrated executives are nearly powerless to do just that—to let IT fail. That’s because the modern-day IT shop—a fiefdom that has long wielded influence even though it suffered from a perception of little business competence—has become too big to fail today. Let IT keel over, and watch everything you hold dear go to hell. Just try it.

Susan Cramm, founder and president of Valuedance and a former CFO and CIO, has written several blog postings in Harvard Business Review Online about the disconnect that exists between IT and business executives. Last week in “Eight Things We (Still) Hate About I.T.,” Cramm wrote:

The core issue remains: IT can be extremely frustrating, for both the people in the IT group and the business leaders interacting with them. IT leaders hate the fact that no matter what they deliver, it’s not enough. They hate the fact that demand far outstrips available resources and that business leaders largely believe that IT is something that is done to them rather than through them. That doesn’t mean they hate the people with those wrongheaded beliefs. And the business leaders hate that IT costs too much and delivers too little, too late. They hate the fact that they don’t understand enough about IT to directly influence what IT does and how it gets done. That doesn’t mean they hate the people trying to help them understand IT.

(Click here to see a slideshow of the eight things).

The key takeaways from these articles for me is that a dysfunctional relationship still exists between IT and business executives, and that IT as we’ve known it is not good enough anymore.

I wrote about the first takeaway last July in “Can Logistics and IT Eat Lunch Together?,” which was inspired by another Cramm blog posting. And in “Making an Informed Investment in Supply Chain Software,” I made the following recommendation: “[When evaluating logistics software offerings and vendors], it’s important for the logistics operations team, before the evaluation process begins, to educate corporate IT on the business processes they need to enable and why; what critical software functionality is required to enable these processes; and (most importantly) why these features and functions are critical. Likewise, it’s important for the logistics operations team to understand corporate IT’s overall strategy and decision levers. Investing in this mutual education process upfront will save everyone a lot of heartache and rework down the road.”

I addressed the second takeaway in “Buying Supply Chain Outcomes, Not Software” and “Software Maintenance Fees: An Outdated Cash Cow?” As I wrote in the first posting, “the case for software vendors to transform their business models is even greater today, in the aftermath of ‘The Great Recession,’ in this so-called ‘New Normal’ that all businesses are operating in. What do customers want? Not software, I say, but outcomes—cost reductions, productivity improvements, revenue growth, increased market share, improved working capital, and so on. As Harvard marketing professor Theodore Levitt famously said, ‘People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill; they want a quarter-inch hole!’ I’m not saying that supply chain and logistics software vendors should stop selling products (‘drills’), but they can certainly do more to help clients achieve their desired outcomes on an ongoing basis.”

What do you think? How can IT and business executives put aside the hate and start loving each other? Should companies expect more (or something different) from their IT vendors and partners? Post a comment and share your viewpoint!

Be Sociable, Share!