The problem has been discussed for many years. The experts have advised that bridging the gap between IT and business should be a high priority for any company, yet we still see this problem persisting today. A new CA Technologies study titled Why IT Needs to Lead Now: The Innovation Imperative, aimed to find out the reason there is such a disconnect between IT and Business executives. The study consisted of 800 business and IT executives. When surveyed, 34% of the Business respondents said their relationship with IT was combative or distrustful. 31% of the IT executives responded in the same manner.
So, what can be done about the problem?
From the perspective of IT, technical people need to branch out from their world and gain a more clear understanding of how the business operates. By doing this, IT can speak in more clearly defined terms about how to use technology to advance the business. IT can then use this knowledge to provide business leaders with the information they crave in order to make more informed and ultimately better decisions about the direction in which to take the business.
From the perspective of the business leaders, they need to realize they have (or can acquire through outsourcing), an asset (IT) that could be their best friend by helping them demonstrate stakeholder’s value, business profit and growth, competitive advantage, and more. Business leaders also need to be forward thinking and proactive enough to examine IT as a competitive advantage which can help them gain ground against their competitors.