The IT department is traditionally the domain of highly-skilled and highly-trained professionals responsible for maintaining numerous vital business functions. From repairing PCs to installing software updates and balancing server loads, the IT department is a critical core component of any organization.
Today’s IT department is more than a cost center; they’re an integral part of any organization. IT represents a significant force for change in your company, providing a competitive edge that makes them a real profit center that’s as important as your sales department.
The digital tools used by corporations in 2020 show us the extent of this reality. Sales teams rely on data from CRMs to provide customers with an improved experience. HR utilizes IT to speed up processes ranging from onboarding to signing documents.
With every employee now carrying a smartphone, they have a connection to your digital solution in their hand, enhancing and improving workflows as well as employee engagement.
In the modern workplace, IT needs to collaborate with all other business departments. Instead of IT being a department, all employees need to start thinking about IT being part of their job.
IT needs to encompass a strategy, rather than a department, and it needs to take on as much responsibility for generating revenues as the sales department.
Modern IT Brings a Competitive Advantage
In essence, modern IT is developing into a value-based department. Research shows that over the coming two years, we can expect the majority of IT departments to make the shift from being a cost center to adding real value to the organization at every level.
There are limitless possibilities when we think about the potential advantages involved with IT in the future of the workplace. Research shows that more than 70% of all IT leaders state that managers and decision-makers in the business feel IT is the most significant driver of success.
Nearly 80% of all business leaders think that IT departments must now function as an extension of business units, rather than a separate entity. Companies are starting to wake up to the fact that when IT strategy aligns with business goals, there’s a huge potential for increasing growth.
Align Your Strategy from the Top Down
When looking at the modern approach to IT, business leaders and managers need to make a concerted effort to align the organization’s IT strategy with its business goals. Every element of the company’s IT strategy must provide an outcome that moves the business towards achieving its goals.
If the strategic goal for your company is to increase incoming leads by 50% in the first quarter, then upgrading 50% of your servers is not a good strategy to help the company achieve its target.
Aligning your IT department with management’s vision is the only way that the company can experience a synergistic adoption of IT at all levels. Employees need to understand the importance of utilizing the new role of IT in their employee duties.
By integrating your IT department into every aspect of your organization, you turn your IT department from a cost center into a profit-driven element of your business.
