Playing for Food is Different than Playing for Fun – Gartner

Posted on 24 February 2011

The Hub Commentary_

Mark McDonald of Gartner has hit the nail on the head – Playing for fun or Playing for Food?  IT being insulated from the business and the external customer means they play for fun, no consequences for their actions. Business service management practices and understanding service value and being the power of the business would bring the risk / reward closer to home to most IT organizations.

I once was on the IT side of the fence many moons ago.  I was working on a project that used a new tool we had purchased and I had the pre-sales technician stop by one day to look over my work and offer some tips and tricks.  As I sat and listened to him that morning what became clear to me was I was on the wrong side of the fence.  I love technology, I love working with people and I love solving the puzzle and bringing the project to life.

My favorite project while in IT was one where I revamped an old system and how billing occurred driving an additional 90K+ / month into the company.  That day I knew I did something with technology that drove value and revenue for the business.  As IT professionals, we lose sight of this by being insulated and thus focus inward and on the wrong things.

I jumped the fence and went to the dark side of the vendor community where we play for fun and for food!

Does you IT play for Fun or for Food?

Michele

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People ask about the differences between ‘the business’ and ‘IT’ and what people can do to eliminate them. It is a great question and unfortunately a persistent one. Usually when you have an issue that people recognize and work to resolve but cannot, there are deeper issues involved. I think that this is a big part of the situation here.  (Read Full Article…)

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