Everyone knows that IT keeps the lights on. But top management may take IT for granted, which may lead them to contemplate making cuts. How can IT keep itself viable to the rest of the organization? By getting involved and doing PR.
IT leaders have a dual responsibility. They have to continuously drive down the costs of keeping the lights on, as well as enable their organization to translate technology opportunities into meaningful business results.
It is important that IT leaders not only support the IT infrastructure, but also use IT to drive business strategies. In order to achieve this, they need to continuously work on improving the relationship between business and IT leadership to enable and foster a collaborative relationship.
Additionally, they need to improve IT visibility across the organization by focusing on maximizing the business value from computing technologies and services and optimizing the return on existing business and IT investments.
While to the layperson it may not appear to be tackling big problems, technology plays an inherent role in creating business value. To enable their organizations to gain increased financial rewards, including higher market shares and sales volume, IT leaders need to develop IT strategies that are tightly aligned to business goals and corporate priorities.