56% of business decision makers see the IT group as a service provider or cost center. Over half see the IT group as an obstacle to getting things done.
-14th annual State of the CIO survey by CIO.com
How does the IT group shift perceptions to be seen a key player in value creation?
The Ongoing Quest for business efficiency can strain IT management’s limited resources. Each new initiative demands more on a shorter timeline. The complexities of integration and upgrades compound, demanding more skilled resources. This steals focus from daily operations, leading to breakdowns — and the IT department again responsible to pick up the pieces. Likewise, the business managers face constant pressures to reduce costs. The IT group then becomes their go-to for new cuts, tightening the squeeze.
Closing the Perception Gap with so many barriers, it’s not hard to see why IT struggles to proactively anticipate the business’s needs. The wins that are happening go unnoticed. To close this perception gap, it is incumbent upon IT leadership to deepen their business knowledge and align with business objectives. They must simplify communication by setting a clear path toward a limited set of priorities that offer real return in multiple facets of the business. By adopting a cross-functional perspective, IT leaders can monitor the pulse of the business and keep pace with its requirements.
IT officers will cement their role as a key business driver when they combine the right technology with solutions that support decision making processes and enhance competitive advantage. By speaking the same language as the business decision makers, IT managers build the credibility to get out of the traditional IT isolation and communicate effectively across all business units.
Matching the Pace
However, with an IT group that finds itself behind the eight ball, getting out from behind it, much less getting ahead of the game, may seem like a tall order.
With a trusted partner, IT leaders can refocus their efforts and offload the most resource-intensive tasks cost effectively.
ProgresSum is an analytics solutions provider with the technology expertise you need, and that also speaks the language of business to project the image you deserve. Our process ensures a direct line to decision makers, intuitive solutions and no system upkeep required.
1.- Listen and Understand: Through our consultative approach, we start by listening to the decision makers to understand their needs. Solutions are shaped by the customer early in the process to keep the project on track and on budget down the road.
2.- Identify Key Data Sources: Together with our customers we identify key sources of internal and external data and channel it into a usable structure.
3.- Design Custom Analytics: We utilize quantitative analysis to reveal patterns and apply these analytical tools to current data. We also help business managers identify spots for improvement through comparative analysis. Solutions are placed on-top of all available systems and sources of information, in such way integration with these is fast and easy.
4.- Deploy Dashboard: This simple, central platform provides decision makers a real-time analysis of the business units’ performance. Our web-based interface is hosted in our Cloud platform, which ProgresSum supports 24/7. The dashboard requires no training time or cost, and no learning curve, and little to no additional resources from IT.
To learn more about how ProgresSum can help IT to become a key player in value creation for your business, please contact us.