I started this blog to share my insight on what IT is, how it functions in business, and maybe even to dispel some of the common reasons that IT departments are seen as a black hole.

You see, IT departments, and IT people by proxy, can be viewed by the rest of business as troublemakers, naysayers, and just generally grumpy. Full disclosure: I’m an IT guy, and I don’t want to be known as any of those things. But I understand where it comes from.

Information is power. That’s been true for a long time, but it’s only been fairly recently (in the grand scheme of things) that information has become so complex and so in need of management. And a community of geeks/nerds/[insert preferred moniker here] answered the call. And thus we entered the business world. We’re not businesspeople, we (for the most part) don’t have MBA’s or management pedigrees. And therein lies the seed of a problem. Due to the nature of our jobs, we’re in large part entrusted with the keys to the kingdom. And I think in a lot of cases, the “real” businesspeople resent this. The companies we work for are their creations, they don’t want grumpy IT guys meddling in the business end of things. But they’re forced to accept us, because SOMEone has to manage that cold room full of blinking lights.

Unfortunately, there’s a lot of overlap between business and IT in today’s marketplace. IT goes far beyond hardware…while I do need to fix your laptop when it breaks, that’s a relatively small part of my job. Realistically, I need to protect your digital assets too. I need to keep systems available, make backups, prioritize and simplify the flow of data, make sure that IT is ready to support business decisions. This last bit is a maxim you’ll probably see me repeat here: IT exists to enable business.

There’s a fundamental difference between reactive and proactive IT. Reactive IT has been the norm at the few places I’ve worked (admittedly all smallish businesses). In these cases, IT guys are viewed by the business as existing to SERVE business. Decisions are made behind closed doors, and edicts are handed down. This makes for a clear line between the business guys and the IT guys. I think this is where IT guys get those negative connotations I mentioned above. When we’re excluded from those closed-door sessions, our points of view can’t be heard. We can’t tell you during the planning stage that you’re forgetting some small detail, that you didn’t think of some technical issue. When we object days, weeks, or months later, we’re seen as a pain in the butt, throwing up roadblocks in the way of “real” business. Believe me, I don’t enjoy telling you that things can’t be done the way you want. I want the company I work for to thrive, both because I’d like to be a part of something big and, admittedly, for personal gain. But it’s hard to be seen as a positive contributor when you do everything you can to make sure that my input is only negative.

Proactive IT is a different way of thinking. And it needs buy-in from both the business guys and the IT guys. Rather than serve business, proactive IT sees us enable business. It moves our contributions from after-the-fact to being a part of the whole process. I know it may seem counterintuitive to take the grumpy naysayers and give them a seat at the big table, but trust me, it makes sense. Some of us even have some business insight. We can help you make good decisions. We can turn roadblocks into speed bumps. Maybe we can help you see how technology can help you do bigger and better things.

So let’s make a deal. We’ll promise to be less grumpy, to fix your mundane issues without eye rolling, to understand your business needs, to think about how to help our companies succeed. We won’t spend money for the sake of having new toys, we won’t play video games on company time, we won’t make you unplug your coffee pot unless it really is on the same circuit as the servers. And all we ask is that you trust us, as you always have. Just trust us a little earlier on in the process. It’ll help us all do bigger and better things.