Hey, fellow Leader 🚀,
I am Artur, and welcome to my weekly newsletter. I am focusing on topics like Project Management, Innovation, Leadership, and a bit of Entrepreneurship. I am always open to suggestions for new topics. Feel free to reach out to me and share my newsletter if it helps you in any way.
Unless someone is working in a technological company (like Apple, Amazon, Google, etc.), IT is simply another department inside the company. It is far from being the flashy and sexy endeavor that pulls in revenue. Instead, it's a department where users might even mistreat Software Engineers as Tech Support for their issues with email.
A while back, I was invited to a demo of a new web solution, which had some complexity but was far from being the most complex product developed in-house. However, this product was being demoed for all the business stakeholders and external partners. The demo went deep into a conversation about business rules, and people around the table were giving shout-outs to the business’s project lead, offering compliments for the extraordinary work done up to that moment.
The meeting ended with everyone complimenting their business counterparts, but not one compliment was directed toward the IT development team that developed the solution. It was as if they were invisible in the room and the platform was built from thin air.
It’s not the first time I have witnessed such behavior. For non-technological companies, IT is a commodity. Something that happens and people really don’t care how.
How can this perception be changed? And how can an IT department get the recognition it deserves?
C-Level and Business Key-Decision Makers Don’t Care About Technicalities
News flash: Nobody really cares if the tool was done in Angular, or the latest version of <insert fancy technology here>. This is a key focal point of why IT departments are misunderstood everywhere. People outside IT simply don’t care about technicalities, and they don’t want to put in the effort to understand. This is indeed a flawed posture for some key management figures inside the company, but their behaviour won’t be changing anytime soon.
Imagine managing a video shop in the '90s, selling VCRs and DVDs, without understanding how supply management works or the impact of technological progress. They would only have to wait a few years to be out of business, both from Netflix’s and technological obsolescence perspectives. This is how some key people still operate today.
It is not up to the IT department to fix how management sees things overall, but it is important to translate technicalities into real-world consequences. That’s why it takes IT staff years to properly tune their communication with non-IT staff. It is important to have business-oriented people in IT who understand both the operational problems and the tools the company is building or has in-house. These people are the Product Managers, Product Owners, Business Analysts, and other roles oriented to align business needs with the company’s technological priorities. Without these roles, IT would be perceived as a department that just fixes the company’s keyboards.
Increasing Visibility on IT Achievements
In the age of AI, new solutions are being born left, right, and center to ease the challenges companies are facing. IT is sometimes the only innovation hub a company truly has, and it’s important to showcase the new tools the IT department puts out.
IT leadership needs to send more invitations to demos to show new features or tools that the company has made available to the business. If business stakeholders aren’t curious to see what IT has to say, it is probably because they don’t see much value in the new features. This might be a big hint that IT output is misaligned with the company’s strategy.
There is a gigantic difference between using a sexy new technology and that same technology being used in a way that is practical and offers real added value to the business.
Working on feedback, improving the tools, and translating that feedback into valuable requirements is only half of the work. The other half is communicating internally that new features are available and checking for feedback on their usage. If these features are contributing real value, C-Level management should be made aware of these achievements, and they should be communicated in terms of real metrics and outcomes. IT departments should not be shy about showing off new projects and their impacts to build an image as a value-driven department.
Make IT as Sexy as an Apple Product
Coming from an Android user myself, this means a lot. You probably won’t have access to a stage to show off the new in-house development tools (One day it will come, it’s important to chase your dreams). However, once in a while, a breakthrough will hopefully happen that will have a significant impact on the company. When these cases occur, they should be communicated at the highest levels. This means ensuring the achievement is featured in a C-level executive's presentation deck for the next time they address the company or speak at a high-level meeting.
Every once in a while, a brand-new technology pops up (for example, AI). If an initiative is using a brand-new technology and creating value, it should be announced internally, and possibly externally, as part of the company’s appetite for innovation. If no company-wide announcements are made, the IT department, with its teams of Software Engineers, will forever be seen as the people who just help maintain the MS Teams and if the building’s WiFi is working.
From Cost Center to Revenue Stream
Are the company’s IT tools part of its revenue stream? If so, how impactful is that revenue on the big picture? IT departments are often managed as cost centers, even when some of their tools are part of the revenue stream.
The shift from a cost center to a revenue stream needs to happen not just in the company’s landscape, but also in people’s minds. IT solutions should be a way to bring revenue to the company. A web portal is seen as a commodity nowadays, and since everyone is using WordPress or other CMS tools, it offers little differentiation from competitors.
It is important to have unique tools in the company’s portfolio that serve as an engine for bringing in revenue. IT should not work on this challenge alone, since it is deeply connected to the company’s strategy and added value.
There should be conversations within the company to find ways for IT solutions to bring new value. When this shift happens, budget meetings become easier to manage, since cuts are typically made to fixed structures that generate no revenue. Having a keen eye on the business and on the industry will help immensely to accomplish such a shift.
That’s it. If you find this post useful, please share it with your friends or colleagues who might be interested in this topic. If you would like to see a different angle, suggest it in the comments or send me a message.
Cheers,
Artur