IT 4 IT Sake...hmmm

Really? We are in the year 2009. I know I often refer to how immature our industry (IT) is. When you compare us to the automotive industry (first car in the late 1700's and industry start in the 1800's), we are very immature. Very young. When you look at other industries (Farming, Autos) you can clearly see the transition from a hobby, to an industry and watch that industry move from self centered, to selfless. When you think about the auto industry today, are they self centered? Are they about cars for car sake? Or do they realize that the car is really about the person driving the car? For personal transportation, or enjoyment or business transportation? That transformation, from self centered to selfless is a true sign of maturity. So what about IT...where are we? Well today in 2009, we are still fighting ourselves to move from self centered to selfless.

Too often, as IT Professionals, we are still self centered. We lose sight of the fact that the businesses do not have computers just to have computers...they have them to add business value. They are there to add to the bottom line.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of consultants and internal IT organizations that think they are there to provide cool new computers. It's so often you hear technical folks talking about SANs and NAS and SMTP and all that cool stuff...but do they add business value? No, sorry to my tech peers, but NO. Let's pick on SAN....great tech...iSCSI is cool stuff, but it's not business value. What is business value is the storage capability that a SAN provides. The ability to warehouse huge amounts of business data in a redundant manner so you, the business, can better target their next client.

This, for us tech folks, is a VERY difficult transition, the good news is there are many industries that have done this before us. What we need to do is step into this transition and up the maturity ladder to realize and provide the solutions that provide business value. So how does this transition start? Simply...think one thought..."business value first". When you see technology, you switch from how cool the tech is, to how can the business grow from this tech? How can the business benefit from this tech. Think those thoughts, talk with your business partners and bring solutions to there needs. In every project you move forward, realize the business benefit. Discuss and validate the business value. Your success from an IT value perspective will not only bring us forward on the maturity scale, but it will serve both you and the business by 2-3X...I promise.