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eBizQ: The Voice of The Efficiency Evangelist - Patti Dock
May 15, 2009
There has long been a language divide between IT and "business speak," but today, a common vocabulary has arisen organically from need. 2009 is truly the year the two sides converge and the IT manager has a singular opportunity to become the voice of the Efficiency Evangelist.
Type your coDespite the challenges businesses are facing today, the availability of productivity and efficiency-focused technologies offers IT the opportunity to show business how to do more with less and to work closely together to identify ways to cut costs and improve revenue. There has long been a language divide between IT and "business speak," but today, a common vocabulary has arisen organically from need. 2009 is truly the year the two sides converge and the IT manager has a singular opportunity to become the voice of the Efficiency Evangelist.
Why? Because they have learned to blend their technology know-how with an understanding of the overarching requirements of business operations by speaking the language of efficiency. IT organizations in companies of all sizes can optimize services and maintain continuity in a cost-reduction environment, while still keeping an eye toward long-term viability and value. IT can also uncover ways to leverage data for more productivity and better workflow, enhance security protocols, improve collaboration, and in the process, lower costs. (In many instances, cloud computing may be the cost-effective model to help businesses achieve these goals; we'll discuss why.)
In keeping with the efficiency theme, IT has to make a shift from product to productivity in their thinking about technology infrastructure. Now more than ever, it is important for IT to look for solutions where intelligence is integrated into programs. Workflow and Automation mean less human involvement, ergo, less human error. This is a critical piece of productivity. Email organization is a perfect example. The average employee spends 847 out of 2,000 hours in a work year using email, and the majority of those hours are spent searching through archives, tracking emails or transferring files. Given these numbers, it's easy to see how automating these processes can greatly improve productivity and ROI.
Another area where IT can lead the way is to shift priorities from availability of information to transparency of information in business communications. With the state of the economy and the expected increase in government regulations, IT needs to make the move from being reactive to proactive, ensuring that security, visibility and accountability are all in effect. In other words, governance must be baked into all messaging and workflow solutions. Making sure that your company can communicate securely with colleagues, business partners and customers -- with built-in compliance that automatically meets all applicable government mandates regardless of what systems are in place -- will go a long way in creating efficiencies and empowering productivity. There is no reason to delay making the move from availability to transparency. With cost-effective and easy-to-implement data governance services readily available, the IT Efficiency Evangelist can help their company conduct confidential online business and avoid the danger of a data breach.
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