Stop for a second and think about your organization’s feelings towards IT. Are they more positive or negative? Some IT shops are seen as leaders in innovation and aligned with the business’s needs. Unfortunately, others have the reputation of being an over-promising, under-achieving, creative hindrance. Based on some of the articles I posted below, there seems to be a lot more of the latter. Which side of the tracks does your IT department fall on? More importantly, if “IT” has a negative connotation in your company, how can you restore its credibility?
I guess the answer really depends on what complaints are being hurled in the IT department’s direction. Do people feel as though you’re stifling innovation? In other words, let’s say the business comes to IT with an idea. In some cases, IT may shoot it down right away because of security concerns or systems compatibility issues. That’s not always the best approach when trying to polish your reputation. A better idea is having both sides collaborate in order to find a way to produce the desired outcome. Educate the business. Besides, IT working side-by-side with the business is a win-win for everyone involved and the organization as a whole.
What if your IT department is catching a bad rap for promising the moon and stars, yet falling staggeringly short of expectations? Maybe a project overshot its budget by a sizeable amount or took twice as long to complete. It’s also possible the end result just wasn’t up to par. These issues can be caused by a variety of reasons, such as:
- Poor project management
- Unrealistic expectations
- Strategy misalignment
- System constraints
- Unexpected complexity
- Communication problems
IT has to be relevant to the business and that’s the bottom-line. When an IT manager shows up to a meeting, you don’t want the response to be something along the lines of “oh here’s the IT guy.” Let’s be honest, there’s no doubt that IT is a huge asset but that value needs to be on display and promoted throughout the organization. How is your IT shop viewed and how do you plan to sharpen its image?
Here are some great articles on how to improve IT’s reputation and effectiveness:
5 Ways to Improve IT Effectiveness (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)
IT’s Reputation Problem (Real User Monitoring Blog)
Improving IT’s Image and Brand (Processor)
Why IT Has a Credibility Problem (Information Week)
5 Ways to Improve Your IT Department’s Reputation (Agile IT Blog by Doug Luxem)














