Council Post: Who’s Driving The Bus? The Disconnect Between IT Groups And Front-Line Business Units

CEO and Founder of InterPro Solutions, offering a suite of award-winning mobile Ops & Maintenance apps designed exclusively for IBM Maximo.

I’m a tech guy, and I love the details: the “how it works” part, the “what if” questions, the relationships between hardware and software. I thoroughly enjoy the entire process of creating and supporting software, and I devote most of my time to sharing and learning from other techies, regardless of their experience or backgrounds.

However, I recognize that a passion for tech is not everyone’s cup of tea and that for some, it can seem complicated, mysterious­ and even exclusionary. Frankly, a lot of IT groups unintentionally reinforce those feelings. It’s that inherent disconnect between IT groups and the front-line business units they support that is too often the silent killer of optimal outcomes on many projects. 

We are all in support roles. 

In nearly every project that I have been part of, mobile devices and related software are used to assist people in performing or reporting on some sort of manual activity: installing equipment, making a repair, conducting an inspection, or responding to emergency conditions. In other words, these tools are in support of physical activities that can never be fully automated (or at least not in the immediate future).

Most organizations have been in business since long before the existence of mobile work solutions, and while they have a growing reliance on these technologies, they are not fundamentally in the business of IT. In my experience, misunderstanding this point is what hamstrings IT groups when it comes to leading business improvement efforts. 

I vividly recall attending a seminar 15 years ago. I was seated among a large audience of IT professionals, all of us feeling justifiably proud of our achievements. We listened raptly to one impressive success story after another, all told from the towering perspective of fellow IT heroes.

The final speaker turned out to be a senior operations leader. He started his brief remarks by simply stating, “We don’t have operations because of IT, but the other way about: IT is there to support and make successful the operations.” The undeniable truth of the message sobered the audience, almost to the point of antagonism. But he went on to present a productive path forward, adding, “We are all working in support roles.” He reminded the audience that no one group is “better” or “smarter” or “more capable” than another. We only get better together.

Over the years, I have watched repeatedly how effective this philosophy can be in achieving and, more often than not, exceeding expectations for project results. 

Dialogue is key.

Failure to identify potential problems and dialogue solutions is a root cause of underperforming projects. The starting point for every project needs to include an organizational discussion that goes beyond just the immediate implementation goals. This discussion must include the identification of business unit stakeholders with specific accountability. 

IT-dominated projects are particularly vulnerable to oversight in two important areas: missed opportunities of operational efficiency and the longer-term impact of mediocre results on organizational energy and morale. I’ve watched projects stumble over some of the simplest things, like IT making buying decisions on mobile devices with no user input. The result was the selection of a form factor that most users ended up hating and that inevitably reduced user compliance. In the end, users complained so much that a year later, a decision was made to scrap hundreds of devices and essentially start over with an entirely new fleet of hardware. 

Too often, putting IT in charge of financial decisions is another limiting variable. Stakeholder voices invariably track directly with financial control. It’s the front-line business units who will live with the results; they must be front and center in all discussions of long-term impact. Follow the money, as the old saying goes, and you quickly discover who the real decision-makers are. 

What’s the real cost?

Often these “IT disconnects” spawn further inefficiencies, including the emergence of additional small or even medium-sized IT groups across organizations. Business units intuitively act in their best interests to gain control over the technology ― and in some cases even the data ― by establishing their own dedicated IT resources. They reason that these closely aligned IT staff better understand the business processes than the larger centralized or corporate-wide group. 

The long-term costs of a failed “IT-driven project” can be much higher than first realized. Lower rates of employee satisfaction, morale and confidence in management don’t immediately show up on the bottom line. But, in the end, no stakeholder seems truly happy with the results and organizational resistance to another high-impact project is hardened. It doesn’t have to be that way. 

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?