Top 8 Reasons Why IT Becomes Irrelevant

Reason #8 - IT Doesn't Understand the Business. When IT cannot answer two fundamental questions about the business, then IT will never be a trusted business partner. Those two questions are 1) What are the business strategy, goals and objectives? 2) What are the business' operational processes and policies?

Reason #7 - IT is Not Proactive. This is what can be referred to as the "The business didn't ask for that" syndrome. Unfortunately this is more the norm than the exception. IT fulfills it's stereotype as an 'order taker' and waits until they get a request from the business teams before they do anything.

Reason #6 - IT Team Infighting. Philosophical and political divisions inside the IT team cause things to grind to a halt. "I am not going to get credit", "I don't want that other person to be successful" or "I want them to fail so that I can take over" are all examples of infighting.

Reason #5 - Safer to do Nothing. It is a fact that there is little risk in doing nothing. As a matter of fact, there is more longevity in hiding than stepping up and driving change. The IT change agents need air cover to push positive change.

Reason #4 - IT is Unaware of Current Technologies. Given how quickly technology evolves, IT must invest time into continual learning  to stay current on the latest technical solutions. The latest technical advancements may just be the break-through that the company needs to meet it's objectives.


Reason #3 - IT is Not Pragmatic. How many times have we heard the statement "If you ask IT, they will tell you that it will cost a million dollars and take years". IT struggles with taking the correct directional strategy and breaking it up into bite-size chunks. A rule of thumb - if IT cannot deliver something that it visibly and tangibly beneficial to the business in a short period of time, then IT needs to rethink their plan.

Reason #2 - IT is not Collaborating with Other Companies. IT groups as a whole tend to be insular. They have little to no interaction (unless it's an emergency or escalation) with outside companies. IT must create connections with 3rd parties to learn and share best practices. Sharing then leads to new solutions and accelerated delivery.

Reason #1 - IT Lacks The Proper Roles to Interface with the Business Team. Analysts are critical to a successful business partnership. Typically referred to as Business Analysts, these are the folks that have solid business knowledge and can proactively engage, interactively develop solutions and think creatively about how to leverage technology to meet business needs.

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