Yet more on the disconnect between business and IT
One of my favorite subjects has hit the Wall Street Journal where the sharp disconnect between Business and IT is still in focus. 27 years on for the PC, if you take the release of the IBM PC in 1981 as the first PC (not forgetting about the altair here either), you have to wonder why we have not been able to bridge the gap between IT and Business yet.
Simply put, top executives at most companies fail to recognize the value of IT. It can help a company transform data from its operations, its business partners and its markets into useful competitive information. It can be the source of profitable innovations in the way a company interacts with its customers and suppliers. But there is still a tendency to think of IT as a basic utility, like plumbing or telephone service. Source: WSJ
Unfortunately for IT, computing is rapidly becoming a commodity, making it all the more important for people who want to have a job in IT get this message.
If you can help bridge the gulf between IT and Business, you will have a career for life.
That is important enough to mention twice here.
If you can help bridge the gulf between IT and Business, you will have a career for life.
Turn this message into a mantra, with cloud computing, grid computing, P2P distribution models, cheap storage, free e-mail systems, on line document sets, and the whole way that IT is going, to the corporate data center that your company will not own, being able to get this, understand this, and be a bridge builder will be the most important thing you can do for your career.
It is dead as we know it because business is taking back IT and using technology to help drive more sales, better customer service, better support, and knowledge about their customers. IT cannot afford to hang out in the wings on this one, to be relevant they have to participate in these discussions. The company in the mean time needs to start rewarding IT departments that do get it, by training, finding support, and helping keep the fear of being fired to a minimum.
Food for thought, but to make it in technical support and IT services at a company, time to start learning about the business side of the house.
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