Do your senior managers understand the leverage your IT operation offers your company?

In most situations, especially in small companies, the answer is unfortunately and sadly, “No!”.

As a CIO, one of your responsibilities is to ensure the senior management team realizes the opportunities available to them in the leverage the IT operation can provide.

The IT organization is the only department in a company that can reduce the cost or improve the productivity of all other departments in the company. No other organization in a company offers this level of leverage.

The sad thing is that far too often senior managers aren’t aware of the potential sitting right under their noses.

CIO’s and IT managers need to do a few things:

1. Establish a positive track record of delivering projects successfully so IT has credibility and senior managers will listen when you have something to say.
2. Communicate the successes and business value the IT organization is achieving.
3. Educate senior managers on the leverage opportunities you discover as you identify the company’s business needs and issues.

Effective IT support is about delivering business value. Do this consistently and you will discover your senior management team is much more interested in the initiatives you recommend and where you want to spend money.