Lessons in IT Transformation: Technology Expert to Business Leader

The Purpose of IT

Let me start by admitting that I am not your prototypical IT person. I am not enamored with technology for technology's sake. I don't run out to buy the next exciting new gadget the day it comes out. I did not build Heathkits as a kid (as a matter of fact, the model cars I built always wound up having “spare” parts!). I am not naturally technically inclined. I received the same SAT score on the math portion as I did on the language portion (650 on each, for those of you who care). My right brain works as well (or as poorly, depending on who you ask!) as my left brain. I come at IT from a little different angle than some IT executives. To me, technology and information have only one real purpose—that is, to promote the business objectives of the organization. I love it when people start talking about service level agreements (SLAs) with “five nines.” The only SLA I have ever seen that mattered was whether the leadership of an organization thought that they were gleaning business value from the investment they made in IT. Providing value to the organization is the primary purpose of information technology; everything else is secondary.