Business & IT at Odds

We've all seen this, worse been a part of it.

It is only lately that I have actually managed to empathize with Business. Taking a step back, they have the same problems IT are faced with:

The need to roll out a solution that meets some operational or strategic objective in the shortest possible time frame.

Almost always the solution requires an information system of some sort. Business knows they can find a solution: off the shelf or custom built (because let's face it, IT is swamped and they will rework the solution later if need be). Business knows what the software must do and even if they can't find a perfect match at least they can get a close enough fit and roll out on time.

Yet who are these IT guys asking silly questions with regards to systems proposed by business. Why do they care about:

1) Open systems architecture
2) Security
3) Operating platform
4) Data storage
5) Size of the development team/company?

This is of course if the organization is forward thinking and actually invites an IT representative to meetings where technology is evaluated. (Thank goodness I am!).

IT must seem like an obstacle to Business: They don't have the time to deliver a solution for us, yet here they are shooting holes in solutions that seem perfectly viable.

At the end of the day the process becomes frustrating for both parties. There is no denying that both parties are stakeholders in the success of the organization. Business needs to deliver the solution as soon as possible and IT has to ensure that it fits in with the technology and processes defined.

Failure of IT to make sure that all systems are in accordance with the strategic architecture result in the problems we read about in textbooks (yet, as students, can't believe actually happen in the real world). These include:

1) Disjoint processes feeding into each other. The end of the dream of technology automation.
2) Multiple data stores, more often than not duplicating important information (and at least one of them out of date)
3) Inability to report on the big picture.
4) Expensive and complicated integration projects.

These problems do not emerge until long after the new system has gone into production. By that time it is too late and both IT and Business are the victims of what is described in our first year textbooks.

Yet neither party is at fault. I just hope for an Open Systems Architecture :)