Information for Business from Lenovo
Darren Baguley
Contributor: Darren Baguley
Making the hard decisions

It has been attributed to a number of people, but a wise man once said, “War is too important to be left to the generals.” In a modern business context, IT permeates everything that the organisation does and it's just too important to be left to the CIO or IT director.

IT is a business tool

The first thing to remember is that IT is an enabler for business change. That change may be very powerful, but ultimately the goal of IT is not technology for its own sake, but to transform the business.

With the advent of technologies such as cloud and mobility, IT is increasingly at the forefront of innovation. Nevertheless, it’s vital to remember that while IT will supply an IT system, it’s the business that will have to implement the changes needed to deliver the business improvement.

What business problem is this tool going to solve?

To put it another way, is this IT tool aligned with the goals of the business as a whole or the goals of my business unit? Speeds, feeds, software and hardware are the responsibility of IT. It’s the responsibility of senior managers to ensure that any new system or tool being considered by IT helps them with the business problems they’re facing. And IT should be able to explain to them how a tool can solve their business problem. If it doesn’t offer a solution, senior managers need to push back until IT can either show them it does, or come up with a new project.

What do we want out of IT?

One of the most critical questions any manager responsible for signing off on IT spend can ask themselves is, “What do we want out of IT?” The answer to this question can vary. Some businesses aggressively deploy technology to get ahead of their competitors and gain market share. Others use IT to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Yet another approach is to have ‘good enough’ technology and focus on other areas, such as customer service or product innovation. All approaches can work, but managers need to decide what approach they want to take.

Should we invest our money into this solution?

If the tool or system does help with a business problem the organisation is facing, the next question is whether it’s a high priority. IT initiatives can multiply rapidly, but obviously they’re not all urgent and important, despite what every business unit manager says. Sometimes there's low-hanging fruit that’s not a high priority, but there's an easy fix so it’s worth implementing anyway. In most cases, IT priorities need to be tightly managed. Managers need to ask the question whether this particular project is the one they should be spending their money on now.

Does this system or tool need to be company-wide?

Traditionally, IT executives have tended to take one of two approaches: standardise everything to reduce cost, or allow exceptions to the corporate standards if a line-of-business manager makes enough of a fuss. While the cloud is making the one-size-fits-all approach rapidly redundant, the very ease with which cloud solutions can be accessed means that it’s more vital than ever that C-level executives and line-of-business managers ask this question. The solution may only be appropriate for one business unit, but it may work for others. In that case, licensing as well as the expensive integration and data migration work can be spread across more than one line of business.

How good does this IT service or product need to be?

IT people love technology – it’s why they ended up as a CIO or IT manager. But sometimes they tend to opt for gold-plated functionality that the business may not really need. Some businesses, or some functions within a business, may need top-of-the-line reliability, responsiveness and data accessibility. But such characteristics cost money and it’s up to senior managers to decide how much they’re willing to spend.

To make sure your business invests in the right tools, your IT professionals and non-technical business experts must work together to align business goals with IT needs.

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