SURVEY SPOTLIGHTS

In the fall of 2010, STAR BASE Consulting surveyed leaders in the local IT and business community. The survey asked respondents to express the level of partnership they felt existed between IT and the business within their organization. The response was overwhelming. Most expressed pervasive issues with communication, integration and trust.

A surprising 64% of those who participated felt that a large gap between IT and the business still existed and that much work needed to be done to ensure a partnership between the two units. Some of the comments included:

•   "Even with business embedded in IT, there is still mistrust."
•   "There is no alignment between business and IT. They work independently of each other."
•   "The problem is that IT has no say or control in what the business does. We are looked at as an obstacle to getting things done."
•   "IT is widely perceived as insensitive to business units."

These perceptions were echoed in the public domain as well. When The Circuit included our survey in their blog, the topic struck a chord in the local business community, resonating with these commentators in particular:

•   "Yes, I believe there is still a lack of partnership. We still often hear the famous "Sorry, we forgot to invite you to this meeting," especially in cases where the project is in full swing by the time the business comes to IT when they should've gotten us involved from the beginning. Then IT is rushed to implement this project or the hardware has to be ordered, which then delays the project. So, yes, this partnership with the business still has its problems."
•   "Yes. There is a huge amount of frustration on the business side with IT because of the huge cost of providing enterprise IT services, the high incidence of unsatisfactory results from IT projects, problems in communication between the business and IT technical staff, and the speed at which IT delivers results. If anything, the problem is getting worse because the rate of change in technology is causing IT staff to be more technically focused and less able to communicate with business leaders."

What's your take? Let us know by contacting STAR BASE at 513.245.0400 or e-mail jwelsh@starbaseinc.com. Click here to download the full survey report.