Let advertisers spend the same amount of money improving their product that they do on advertising, and they wouldn't have to advertise it." –Will Rogers
Will obviously never worked in IT. The problem in IT has been the bulk of the money, time, and effort has gone into improving the product, with scant resources, if any, used in "advertising" IT properly. If this weren't the case, the industry might be less challenged in figuring out the whole business-IT alignment issue. The IT product simply would speak for itself . . . but in reality, in many companies this seems not to be the rule.
Taking an optimistic view, it's reasonable to assume many business leaders are aware of the value IT can (and, best-case scenario, does) bring to the table. If they're not aware, then at least one of the following has to be very poor: the IT service being provided, the astuteness of the business side, or the ability of IT to communicate its merit.
The first two items are bigger problems than can be dealt with usefully in this space. The third item, however, is worth closer scrutiny. And whether it's called advertising, marketing, or communication, the bottom line is IT needs to be proficient at it or be in for ongoing frustration.
Let's call good marketing "perception management," and the key to perception management is the message IT projects. If it's the right marketing message, it will boost IT's endeavors, so getting the message right is everything.
Remember perception is as strong a force as reality–and sometimes stronger. For example, even when systems truly are as good as they can be, if the business side doesn't perceive them that way, trouble will ensue.
As for Web services and SOA, while larger companies have done a better job educating their business partners, midsize companies "have their work cut out for them," according to a Celent study. "Celent believes that the messianic 'SOA will change everything' messaging, which was likely designed to engage the business side by sounding relevant and important, has in fact dissuaded them from looking at it too closely by sounding indigestible." Efficiency is a more powerful selling point than transformation, the study continues: "Thus, 'better plumbing' is a more compelling vision than 'a whole new way to do things.'"
Then what's bad marketing? That would be touting the wrong message (as above) or creating the perception of being able to deliver on what isn't feasible. The former adds to the confusion; the latter only feeds the cause of the business-side IT cynics.
The role of IT perception management can't be emphasized enough. It probably is worth keeping in mind these words from Erma Bombeck: "In general, my children refused to eat anything that hadn't danced on TV." Care to dance?
© Arc, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to TMSalesOperations@arc-network.com. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.