I sell Washing Machines - What do Your IT People Do?
- Details
- Created on 12 August 2008
- Written by Steve Burrows
Wearing another hat I am the IT Director of Vanilla Group, a UK-based organisation in the laundry equipment industry, including brands such as , , etc. When I attend business and social functions I am commonly asked "What do you do?", and I usually reply "I sell washing machines" (which enormously irritates my spouse!).
But it's true. I'm a director of a company selling laundry equipment. and when I've got that hat on that is what I do. OK, not directly, I rarely see customers and try to engage them into the products and services offered by the company, it does happen, but not often. My job is about enabling the organisation to sell, supply and service laundry equipment. The technology I devise and implement is focused on those goals, I am a part of the back office in the business.
The point being - What do your IT people do? I have inculcated my philosophy into my team at Vanilla. They all understand their goal, to enable and facilitate the sale, supply and service of laundry equipment. That's what our IT department does. Their skills are technical; in infrastructure, databases, mobile communications, finance systems, CRM etc. etc, but the IT team knows and understands the business it is facilitating, and works pro-actively to facilitate that business and resolve the business problems it encounters.
So what does your IT team do? What do they think they do? Maintain and fix servers, network & PCs, write software, support applications? If so you need to have a chat with them. IT only works well when it is an integrated part of the business, and to become that the IT team must understand and be engaged in the commercial objectives of the business. After all, if your business is selling washing machines you don't really want to be employing someone who thinks their job is to fix computers, do you?
