There is a difference between form and function. IT departments often deliver the form (systems, infrastructures, services), but our businesses want the function (well managed customer relationships, reduced costs, competitive differentiation). This is the difference between outputs and outcomes - IT deliver outputs, business wants outcomes.

When asked what they really want from their IT departments, CEOs are uncommonly consistent. They want: "IT without fuss, involvement in business improvements, and appropriate leadership." Whenever I talk to IT management, there seem to be some invisible words here - they don't see "without fuss", they don't see "involved" and they don't see "appropriate" yet these are the clear outcomes required by CEOs - in fact these are the only words CEOs often see.

IT people focus on the form: "Deliver IT (we've got an SLA so that's covered), business improvement (yeah, we deliver systems on time and in budget), and leadership (we're subscribing to various research houses - we know what's going on out there)."

Business people want the function - "without fuss, involved and appropriate." (Funny there's not a lot of technology there). But that's the point. That's the elephant in IT's room which they don't talk about. Business wants business outcomes, and the technology is just the medium that IT departments use to deliver these outcomes. Here's the elephant: IT's NOT ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY!

I used to think that "IT" was a noun - it named the department that dealt with technology. I have come to realise that "IT" is an adjective - it describes the area in which the IT department works to deliver business results. If you think of yourself as the IT department you're focusing on the form. If you think of yourself as the business results department which uses technology to deliver these results - now you can see the elephant - you're focused on the function.

Source: Computerweekly