A recent article on CIO.com (originally published in InfoWorld), really got under my skin. It's basic premise was that the concept of Running IT as a Business was flawed and nothing but a train wreck waiting to happen. I think that's malarkey. Following is the comment I posted in response:
To begin with, Running IT as a Business is a metaphor that creates a simple way for technically-oriented IT folks to understand that technology exists for something more than its own sake. And to that end, it is extremely powerful and useful.
While I agree with the simple message that IT must be integrated with the business and viewed as a strategic partner to be effective, I do not believe that is in any way incongruent with "Running IT as a Business." What successful business isn't founded on a fundamental understanding of its customer's needs and the value which they place on those needs? What successful CEO doesn't spend the vast majority of his time obsessing about changes in the market, meeting with his customers, understanding their businesses and forecasting their future needs - often before they do? The most successful businesses do, in fact, become strategic partners and become integrated into their customer's business. And to the counterpoint, how many successful businesses are founded with the premise to become the best darn order taker out there?
It is not the paradigm that is broken, but simply its execution. Likewise, it is important to understand that it is not all of IT's job to be the "car designer." If IT was a car business, it is clear that there need to be designers - but there are also line workers, accountants, customer service reps, quality control coordinators, etc. They are all part of the process to provide value to the customer through the product or service delivered - and they are all equally important.
So the paradigm of running IT as a business says that I must first design effectively, based on a solid understanding of what the customer values (not merely their requirements), but also must execute flawlessly on everything that leads from that design to a usable product that delivers the value we promised in the first place. That's running IT as a business - and it makes more sense now then perhaps ever before.
