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Few business executives truly understand the value of IT. For most, IT is an expensive "black box" that defies easy understanding. As technology becomes more pervasive, this ignorance is holding many organizations back from capitalizing on information technology and the expertise of IT professionals. For IT to be embraced by business leaders, IT leaders must package and market the value the IT department has and can deliver. While most IT leaders instinctively know the business value of their department, few are good at marketing that value. Simply knowing that we add value is not enough. We must be able to both define that value and communicate it effectively.
We should look to the marketing folks for lessons. Not only are they adept at promoting an organization's brand, they are masters at promoting their value to the rest of the business. Some organizations (consumer goods) are experienced at marketing and some (healthcare) are new to the art. But remember, marketing is not a department; it is a part of the business.
 Most IT organizations have never won awards for their marketing prowess. However, if IT doesn't market itself well to the business, who will? Medical City in Dallas, TX was an also-ran hospital in that city until they invested in a strategic marketing philosophy that moved them into the top tier of care providers. We believe IT professionals must continually define and market their value in simple business terms to others, regardless of industry.
Changing the Model, Capitalizing on the Brand
Let's examine lessons from how a couple of well regarded companies have successfully marketed themselves. The first lesson speaks to challenging conventional practice. When Dell entered the scene, personal computers were sold through very complicated and costly distribution channels. Michael Dell changed that model, asking why the company shouldn't go directly to consumers.
This analogy reminds all of us that the best approach is not necessarily the way it has always been done. Our history in IT has been based at our superior technical knowledge. It has been our security blanket throughout the years, but it's time to evolve that thinking. IT professionals must be leaders without solely focusing on technology. The technical expertise simply becomes another tool in the box.
The second lesson is to capitalize on brand recognition. Walt Disney figured out early on that you need to make your brand part of an experience, not just a label in the store. Many organizations are now pursuing experiential brand marketing. This is a great lesson for CIOs: if your business colleagues have consistently positive experiences with IT, they can become IT advocates to your top executives and the board.
Finally, provide service and responsiveness as a differentiator. IT must deliver what is important to the business leaders. It is not enough to provide statistics on business-related metrics. For example, IT has a great opportunity to lead their company to superior performance levels using analytics. Meeting expectations is passé. Today, it is all about exceeding expectations year after year after year. In IT, the customer is always right. As technology professionals, our job is to understand what the business needs and to deliver a technology solution in the most effective and efficient manner. After all, we want our service reputation to attract our business colleagues to us with business needs and ask how to apply technology.
One of us recently held a meeting with other executives at the consumer goods company where he was an IT executive. The meeting was to plan an upgrade to the telecommunications/presentation capabilities in the Board of Directors meeting room.
When the conversation turned to new video conferencing capabilities, several of the executives stated that they had seen a demo of telepresence from vendor X and wanted to have that installed. Right away, Phil responded with the technical reasons why that system was neither feasible nor practical and addressed the substantial cost of installation and ongoing communication lines. The executives responded saying that having the ability to conduct telepresence-type meetings would add prestige to the company. Phil responded with architecture limitations. The executives then said that system would allow them to impress their new business partners in Hollywood-centered entertainment businesses. The discussion went back and forth without either side changing their position.
It wasn't until later that day that it occurred to Phil what was being said. The company was growing their media-related business with Hollywood. The executives wanted to be viewed as being "leading edge," which meant telepresence to them; they didn't care about costs or other limitations.
Realizing this and embracing a "customer is always right" philosophy, Phil completely changed his approach at their next meeting. He spoke of the "experience" the executives wanted to achieve. This worked; the executives were now engaged. Phil then described an alternative vendor's telepresence system that would deliver the desired experience at a much lower cost. After a few questions, the executives were sold. They had been presented the same facts, but the marketing approach was different. Phil was now marketing to the customer's need (the experience) not the technology (the bits and bytes of high-end video conferencing).
Ultimately, IT must convince business colleagues they possess the desire and competency to deliver business value. As illustrated above, IT struggles to tell this story convincingly. This must change. A top priority for IT leaders is to pull together and tell their story in a clear, concise and compelling manner using terms their business colleagues use.
Here is a roadmap of actions for IT professionals to better market their value to the organization.
Step 1: The As-Is Situation In IT
The starting point is for IT to conduct a candid self-assessment of business value the department has delivered to the organization recently. We recommend examining two or three significant projects completed in the last year. Ask the business sponsors and owners for their views. If these don't match with the view of IT, we recommend an extra step during this phase: examining how IT is perceived within the organization. Conduct an online survey and face-to-face interviews with several colleagues to obtain candid comments. Stress IT's commitment to make improvements.
IT must know their service's value and market position to successfully promote the business value of IT to the rest of the organization. Otherwise, trust and credibility can be damaged.
Step 2: IT's Vision
Where is the organization going? What effect will that have on the IT department? How do you want your IT team to fulfill the needs of the business? Write a vision story describing a typical day in the organization. Detail what people are doing, how they are interacting, how IT is adding value, and how the business perceives IT. Share a draft with the IT team to gain their buy-in and support. Share it with a few trusted business executives to gain their agreement and line up one or two to become advocates of IT.
Step 3: Create Your IT Brand
There needs to be a visual identity that the rest of the organization can relate to. It needs to sum up the vision and invoke the experience that you want to deliver to your partners. This is not a quick "T-shirt" campaign and must be given an appropriate amount of thought and effort. Anything less can actually work against you.
Step 4: Communicate & Gain Constituents
Like everything else we do in a team environment, you must have the support of your business colleagues. They must understand what you're trying to do and, more importantly, see the value to themselves and the business overall. This is probably the most critical component to the success of your endeavor. Ensure that your IT staff is committed to this story and can tell it in their own terms. It is very important to have a united front within the IT department. Next, enlist one or two well-respected business executives to become vocal advocates of IT.
Having gone through this at a recent employer, Phil remembers a quote from a highly regarded VP at the conclusion of a major project: "This has been the best experience I have had with IT in my fourteen years with the company." With his permission, we used his name and that one line in almost every aspect of our on-going marketing.
Finally, tell this story to the executive team since they're highly influential for other employees. Gaining their support is critical to winning over the rest of the organization.
Step 5: Rinse & Repeat
There is no such thing as over-communicating. Eventually the movement to a true partnership with IT will become self-sustaining, but don't count on that happening quickly.
Once you've established your brand, continue to sell and evolve it. Don't let the IT story and brand go stale. Harness the enthusiasm you garnered by enlisting frequent help from the IT department. Solicit ideas and insure that everyone recognizes the need to market their brand in everything they do. Don't forget to monitor and measure the outcome of your marketing initiative. The story has to evolve as the environment evolves.
Leverage technology to your advantage. Set up portals, create graphic displays and continue to make the IT brand well known. If IT can't be innovative in their marketing plan, who can?
Finally, celebrate successes! Not just the big ones but any success along the way. This will inspire your team to go the extra mile while enjoying their jobs even more.
IT needs to be embraced by others across the business. With the right marketing and branding effort, that will happen. It may be outside of most IT leaders' comfort zone, but is not beyond our capabilities. CIOs need some tips from their CMO colleagues. Check your list of network contacts and make sure you're connected to a marketing professional or two.
In addition to consulting engagements, Philip Carlucci has held technical leadership positions with CBS, Robertshaw of Tennessee, Springs Industries, and most recently Hasbro Inc., where he held the position of Vice President - IT Service Delivery.
Robert F. Johnson is director of product marketing at Atrion Networking Corporation and has held executive  strategy and marketing positions with CGI Inc., Deloitte Consulting and Digital Equipment Corp.
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