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When I talk to clients about their IT organization, I use the terms “IT” and “The Business” to distinguish between the groups that support and the groups that consume the technology. Too often I see that distinction continue within the organization itself, rather than considering the organization as a whole. For example:
- Many organizations have an IT Strategy that is separate from the overall business strategy
- Enterprise Risk Assessments consider “Technology” as a separate and distinct risk that must be evaluated
- Audits are often separated between IT and process efforts
This mindset is often indicative of a disconnect between the two groups. But why do we see this disconnect? CIO.com recently tried to answer this question based on their regular #CIOChat and I think that the 8 reasons they outline are pretty spot on. You should read the full article on CIO.com, but here are the 8 reasons in summary:
- IT’s relative newness
- Poor historical focus on alignment
- Lack of transparency and common language
- IT says “No” too quickly
- The willingness to be strategi
- How IT operates
- Lack of business technical backgroud
- How the business is organized
[dvbox title=”My favorite quote from the article:” style=”light”]
“Why is it always IT versus the business? It’s not finance versus the business. Why, she asked, is there an other-worldness to IT?”
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What do you think? Can you share any other reasons why the IT-business disconnect might exist? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
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