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Scot Petersen, Editorial Director, SearchCIO-Midmarket
Despite the fact that the average midsized business spends $2 million annually on IT, many SMBs still see IT as just another expense, rather than as a strategic investment. And that's a big mistake, as anyone in the trenches can tell you.
Michael May, IT operations manager at Central Computer Corp., in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England, is among those who believe business owners would get considerably more value out of their IT staff if they treated them as strategic assets.
"The real issue for me, and one that would help staff retention, is making IT a part of the business rather than just a support function," May lamented. "Often, we look around and think how much we could contribute if only we were asked. But to business owners, we're often just 'tech support' and should stay in our box."
In May's view, an effective business manager respects the expertise of the IT department head and "appreciate your efforts to understand the business and be receptive to your requests for information and guidance."
The same management philosophy is in place at Cairo Corp., a 90-employee IT integration firm in Chantilly, Va., where the IT manager participates in the annual budget meetings and the daily department meetings.
"Our IT manager is there for our daily 'huddle' as well as at our weekly intelligence meeting when we throw business problems on the table and figure out how to resolve them," said Alba Aleman, president of Cairo Corp., noting, "We get some of our best business advice from IT."
Aleman's advice for other owners and managers is to treat the IT department like any other core area,such as sales or human resources. "Our IT department has a legitimate place at the table along with all of the other business infrastructure departments," she said.
Kevin McGowan, Cairo Corp.'s director of technical infrastructure, said the consequences of excluding IT in business meetings can be disastrous. He recalled an incident at a previous employer where the marketing department purchased a Web-based reporting tool without asking IT's assistance, only to find out later that the tool didn't work at some of the firm's locations.
"There was an attitude that IT was a bit like the TV repairman: 'Just fix this thing.' They didn't understand how important IT was," McGowan said.
That kind of disconnect can be largely prevented by the simple process of including IT department staff members in meetings. He said: "So if someone's planning on doing something that may not work with the system -- say the marketing department is planning a large email blitz to clients that may bog down servers -- I can better plan or sit down with people and say what is it you're doing and make it so it's easier on their lives and on everybody in the company."
Company-wide seminars can also help educate nonmanagement-level IT staff on the goals and concerns of the business. At Cairo Corp., for instance, all new employees -- IT and other -- get a one-day orientation on company operations, so they understand the "big picture" beyond their own narrow role.
McGowan also suggested having IT and other departments give short educational presentations to the company. For example, the senior ranking IT executive might hold a company-wide lunch discussion on how to get more use out of the email system, while the marketing department might discuss an upcoming campaign and solicit input on planning.
To keep IT managers in the loop, Norbert Kubilus, CIO at Sunterra Resorts and a partner in Tatum CIO Partners, a consulting service for growing firms, suggested that managers meet once each month to discuss alignment. They should evaluate how well business strategies are being communicated in the organization, and then identify actions that IT and business can take to improve that alignment.
As Kubilus observed, achieving alignment between IT and business requires effort on both sides. "IT has the responsibility to educate the business managers on what is realistic to achieve with technology, and business managers have a responsibility to help set priorities for IT activities so that alignment can be achieved," he said, noting, "IT is, after all, fundamental to business success."
Sue Hildreth is a freelance writer and editor based in Waltham, Mass. Contact her at sue.hildreth@comcast.net.