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It as a Strategic Partner

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Submitted By reivaax
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Tuesday, 23 February 2016 07:55

IT As A Strategic Partner
Written by Gary Rush

I’ve been reading about Data Warehouses and Business Intelligence – good reading – but noticed a concept that has been around since the late 1970’s, regarding the relationship between IT and business, that I believe needs to change. IT has been positioned to support business; that business is their customer. When IT views business as their customer, they work hard to support them, which is good. The reverse, however, is a problem. When the “business units” view IT as a support function they endure their presence. Today, with the growth of Big Data, business intelligence, e-commerce, etc., IT needs to be a strategic partner.

A Strategic Partner
Making a shift to view IT as a strategic partner with “business units” is crucial. Using Big Data effectively and developing useful business intelligence requires both the business involvement – they know their requirements, and technology involvement – they know how to deliver. But, it’s more than that. New technology and new uses of data emerge daily. When IT waits for the business to come to them with a need, business is generally in a reactive mode. When companies strategically tie business and IT as partners they have an advantage as IT can approach business with new ideas, new uses of technology and data; and business can come to IT with ideas for how to use data and technology, enabling them to be more proactive. This enables businesses to be more cutting-edge, and more of a leader in their industry rather than reacting to what others have done. Having better business intelligence about customers, services, products, and the market can provide a company with many advantages.

“How To” Make This Happen
One of the symptoms of the server/customer relationship is that when IT has a project, it sends

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