IT to business: You just don't 'get' me

Computerworld - Q: Why does it still seem that no one on the business side understands the issues on the IT side, though we've been talking about the same problems for a lot of years? -- R.R., New York

A: Spectacular question. I pose an even better one: Why is it that IT staffers still don't speak the same language as their business counterparts? Why do we have entirely different microsocieties within a common company?

The issue, which won't be answered here because it's a much bigger issue than I can address in this forum, has been on my mind of late. There is an absolute disconnect between IT and the business as a general rule. Sure, IT supports the business -- in theory (you've all heard about the "Is IT relevant?" arguments by now). And even if IT does support the primary mission of the corporation, it probably has become so insular and isolated from the mainstream people who are the company that there is a backlash in the making.

For years, the business looked at IT as a necessary evil. It used to be a competitive advantage, but now it's a potential competitive liability. That change in thought affects how we treat IT and how IT treats itself.

The genesis of the problem began simply enough. We -- XYZ Corp., a maker of blue widgets -- needed a support system to aid us in automating processes so that we could make better widgets, design bluer widgets, sell more widgets, account for our widget costs and profits, etc. IT was supposed to be an implementation of technologies geared to generating more widget revenue or cutting widget operating costs. Simple.

Then a funny thing happened on the way to work one day; all of the sudden, IT started having to deal with other IT-related issues: data protection, disaster recovery, data growth, performance problems, scale issues, people skills, etc.

Industry responded to the opportunity by creating technologies and services to attack IT problems -- not widget problems. Then one day, the CEO called a staff meeting and asked the CIO a question. And the CIO responded in ancient Greek. "What's that? I didn't understand you. What is the return on assets on infrastructure projected to be this year?" asked the CEO. And again the CIO (in this case, a metaphor for all of IT) answered, but this time in Aramaic. "Well, what can we expect for a return on equity from our IT department over the next eight quarters?" In muted French, I think the CIO said, "I don't know." Then left the room.