An IT alignment reality check
People in IT are unlikely ever to say they are misaligned with business. For decades IT advisory services have presented the business savvy IT chief as a cornerstone and a facilitator, to enable business leaders to achieve their organisational goals.
They may or may not have a seat on the board, but ultimately, these IT leaders have earned respect amongst other heads of business. And from the top looking down, IT can seem to be aligned with business goals.
Another way of looking at IT is an onion. The finished product in the veg aisle at a supermarket is the top layer of IT: technology leaders and senior IT staff who are well-versed in speaking to the business.
As we peel away the layers, people working deeper and deeper in tech are far less likely to speak to business people on a day-to-day basis. They may become detached from how the work they do every day fills in the jigsaw pieces that complete the bigger picture, which is the organisation’s overall strategy.
Every day we experience examples of the disconnect that occurs when, say, someone working on a first-line support helpdesk, is assigned a ticket. Apart from a select few very important people in the organisation, the majority of helpdesk tickets are from normal employees, who need IT to do something to enable them to do their job. Making sure one VIP is getting an exceptional helpdesk experience is certainly not IT/business alignment. When someone’s IT is not up to scratch – they may be a mere cog – but it’s the small cogs that stop the wheels on the business train from derailing.
Take a recent visit to a high street optician chain. The process of ordering a new pair of glasses appears to require manual data entry of prescription details on some IT systems, eye measurements and then a search between different manufacturers and distributors, to check whether they can deliver a suitable lens for the customer’s prescription.
The process can be painfully slow. As a customer looking at what may be happening, it seems the applications and in-store equipment are not seamlessly connected. In fact, the only thing that does work away from the cash till is the Chip & PIN reader.
It is not a great customer experience (CX) and this is not a one-off case. As customers, we often hear excuses like “the IT system is playing up”, or “sorry, this is taking longer than it should.” And just like in other types of organisation, employees on the shop floor are key to business success. The top business priority for IT people should never be about the latest tech fad. Instead, we need a laser-focused alignment with employee success.