This month, I’ve consulted with four different business executives in varying industries that all share the same frustration. They want better IT results, but after about 90 days of trying, they give up on the people and try something else.
During the course of these meetings, we discuss the goals of the IT department and/or subcontractors, and the frustrations around getting real results.
All executives want the same thing from IT: “I just want it to work.” After that, they want to advance the business, using technology as leverage.
Let’s assume that the business has the right people managing IT, either internally or outsourced.
The issues we constantly discuss in these meetings all center around process and execution, or lack of a realistic plan by either IT or the business leaders. My focus is getting the business leader to take a step back and see that best practices, standard operating procedures, project management, and technical capability are VERY difficult to come up with.
Most business leaders - and even IT professionals - believe that helping end users solve problems IS information technology. That’s not the case at all. Turns out, 80% of information technology has NOTHING to do with helping end users.
So here’s where we find the problem: Even if you have the right people on the bus AND you have all of the best processes developed, documented, AND executed, IT takes time. Just like when you start a new diet and workout routine, results don’t happen overnight. Seeing the benefits of everything being done right over time can feel like a long process, especially if there are over 100 users.
I’m certainly not suggesting patience when dealing with incompetence or lack of knowledge though. I'm just hoping to help executives understand that the road to success isn’t easy and it could take longer than you might think.
Struggling with IT results? I'd be happy to chat. Give me a call at (800) 481-4369 any time.
Marty
Related: IT Untangled: Improve Sales Process With Technology
