The Lack of Alignment Between Business and Technology
One of the biggest problems in today's business world is the lack of alignment between the business and technology teams. These teams often appear to be at odds with each other as they are rarely seen working toward a common goal. One major mistake made by top team executives in business today is that they expect technology solutions will address business problems without being fully informed of the consequences. The consequences are usually far reaching, often increasing costs in the long run, reducing efficiency and only provide a band-aid solution to the real problem. So what approach should be taken?
What can be done to move from IT to business technology?
The first issue to address is technology should be seen as an enabler and not a solution. If an organisation faces problems, it needs to fix the cause of these problems before implementing technology. By fixing the cause of the business problem, its effect is likely to be removed and the reason for considering the technology in the first place may have changed or even vanished.
If an organisation wants to increase sales but believes that it does not know its customers, it is unlikely that the implementation of a customer relationship management system will really help address the problem. To fix this problem, an organisation would need to look at the products and services it provides from the customer's perspective, Outside In, to see what customers really want. Once identified, an alignment of strategy, business, processes and then technology to deliver the successful customer outcome would need to occur. Every interaction would need to be designed to ensure each and every customer interaction could deliver a successful customer outcome. Then and only then should the technology be considered and only by referencing the customer interactions, should a system that can provide the necessary functionality to align to its customer goals, be chosen.
The CEMMethod
To fix the business technology divide, we need to ensure both teams are working toward a common goal. That common goal is the customer and delivering a successful customer outcome, each and every time. The goal of any truly customer-centric, Outside In business is to make customers lives simpler, easier and more successful. Our businesses need to be designed to deliver the results and we should ensure that our employees can operate in an efficient manner on the processes that produce the successful customer outcomes. The systems we put in place should not be considered business or technology systems, but rather customer systems.
Techniques to align an organisation to delivering the successful customer outcome are available to you through the CEMMethod. So if you are looking to bridge the gap between your business and technology teams, our consulting and training services provide you with the necessary techniques to achieve your goals.