It's a lot more than business leaders becoming more "tech-savvy." In many cases the business leader(s) are pursuing personal agendas vs. company agendas to one-up their peers in some fashion. They are also "TV-conditioned" by shows like CSI, NCIS and other near sci-fi films that depict computer and other analysis processes that take hours or days being completing in seconds. Then you have to add a dash of "cool gadgets" the advertisers would have you believe do everything from soup to nuts and even a monkey can use them. Now you have the typical sterotyped "business leader" who thinks he or she is "tech-savvy." So now that they know all there is to know they can converse and make decisions with the other business leaders without consulting IT or just assuming IT will make it happen because they've seen it "everywhere" already, and if we don't do it, we'll be behind our competition. Cost? Time required? Qualified technicians/administrators? Why should we consider these? IT always keeps it running, so it must be easy. I know a whole lot more than IT. The WSJ and other business mags says so every day. Until the "business leaders" break the code and begin to understand that without their tech infrastructure the business would not just slow, it would collapse, and that you can't always mix oil and water and come up with something useful. You won't even begin to see any alignment. And when you cross the egos of senior business with sharp tech you get sparks and flames. You might actually find better solutions with tech being given the goals of running the business, making a profit, setting the rules, and using business leaders as advisors and integrators. Just a thought.......... Microsoft....Google.... I wonder..............

As a former business-area staffer that morphed into an IT leverager, I totally agree, because managers, staff and business functionaries barely have enough time to perform their primary job, let along staying current on the rapid development of IT trends and initiatives.

Further, business managers are sold by external IT agents that are unaware of the complications and complexities of bringing these external technologies into existing

Michael W. Bycura, PMP

I strongly believe that it is time now that business people get more IT savvy. It starts with the basic skills like using Excel correctly and ends with the understanding of IT processes and how IT has to be part of business planning. The eSkills or IT skills of business people have to be leveraged to a new level. I am currently developing an eSkill curriculm for each function in the company I am working for.

Not so much that the need for improved business acumen is over emphasized for IT but that there is no reciprocal emphasis on business executives getting some fundamental understanding of the challenges, complexity and critical core competencies associated with the information technology that support their businesses. The burden of alignment has been placed squarely and solely on IT, with CIOs spending the majority of their time trying to educate their business partners on the most rudimentary aspects of their function so they can get to the real alignment conversations. Most MBA programs now include at least one required class in project management, which is a start, but there needs to be a more comprehensive focus on understanding the technological implications of running a successful business in these curriculums.

I personally think it would be great if management were even the slightest bit technical.

For the last 20 years I have had bean counters, people who know how to make a budget by lowering raises, cutting out bonus programs but can't spell PC, JCL, Unix or Word, running the show and that includes the customer/application owner/user community.

I have been in the field for 33 years and management was expected to know something besides how to make more profit for themselves and give themselves larger bonuses and profit-sharing packages. Technical Managers were expected to be technical; often having risen through the ranks like the rest of us who have reached the 'top end' of our corporate existance because we could only become management and that's reserved for only those who have an MBA in accounting or business management with absolutely no technical background.

It's very hard to explain to someone who has no idea what a server farm is how long it would take to set it up, test it and turn it over for customer use.

Sadly, immediately those of us with the technical expertise are often accused of 'padding' our time to implement improvements to existing systems or installation/implementation of new systems because the upper echelon does not "like" the answer we are giving -- with no basis in fact because they haven't a clue what we are talking about at least 95% of the time.

This is not just an understanding issue but a communications issue. If business leaders are our target audience, then we need to talk their langauge and we need to understand they already have enough on the plate; the key is not for the execs to become more technology-savvy.

For example, what do business leaders want?
Answer: They want to receive concise, jargon-free, factual information from IT with emphasis on the value proposition. Instead we attempt to justify projects or set directions based on meeting technical and/or function requirements.

As a CIO who came up through the business side of banking, I will most likely say this until the day I walk out of the door for the last time. "Know your business partners and their challenges. Have frequent and informative meetings with them. Understand their business needs and translate those into a delivery platform to meet those needs. Explain the solution in non-technical terms to your business partners so they understand the benefits of your solution and keep them informed of your progress as you implement their solution."

This engages the business side of the company in the technology solution and it serves as a platform for technology-knowledge transfer. It breaks down the barriers between business and technology and opens up the lines of communication. Is this easy to do? No, it's not. Is it worth the pain, effort and time? Most certainly. Does it pay off? Yes, in many different ways, including increased funding for IT and to an informed end-user group.

Ultimately it ends with IT being viewed as a partner or stakeholder to the success of the company and not just another cost center.

I am a professor at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. I fully agree that there is a serious need of IT-smart business executives. In fact I will argue that it is the absence of these executives that lead to deep disconnect between IT and business in large firms.

So you may wonder what is the basis of this argument. I recently co-authored a book called "The New Age of Innovation" with professor C.K.Prahalad (well known strategy expert). The thesis of the book brings out the centrality of IT in business innovation. We present several real case studies where the role of IT-smart business executives has been critical. The amazon URL link to our book is attached below if you are interested in more.

Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/New-Age-Innovation-Mobilizing-Co-Created/dp/0071598286/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207314576&sr=1-1

Now I know how Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde felt.

On the one hand I think the whole thing is nonsense. I can talk to any business leader about their business and never mention technology.

On the other hand when I am asked if it can be done -- that's all they want to know. What we both care about are results. I have now read more management books than I have computer books. (Just for the record I used to read IBM Red Books and won a bet with an IBM CE.

I really don't understand why people feel it is so hard. IT is no different than marketing. We are a tool to achieve an end. IT's job is to not only help the other departments succeed but to search out ways in which we can help.

This requires sitting down and asking, "what gives you the most aggravation during the day? Week? Year? Where are you / we headed? Then IT can help to relieve that barrier.

IT should also be up on the latest so when a solution pops up you will know where the problem is. Most people in IT need to get over their ego about how special they are (in my eyes you are all "special") but what have you done for me lately?

Kevin Sweeney
CIO

I feel that if both IT and management worked together there is a possibility for overall cost reduction with out downsizing. I have been in the field for only 5 years but I have already seen this being incorporated. I am attaching another article that I have come across, I think hits this the same if not more.

http://newageit2bblog.wordpress.com/2008/09/29/align-it-to-business-or-business-to-it/

This is a great debate that should probably start with a discussion on business strategy versus just focusing on the IT acumen of business executives, since both are inextricably linked. What I often find is that business executives lack the strategic focus and discipline needed to drive their business, and I disagree that quarterly performance constraints imposed by the financial market is an excuse. A good case in point is the auto industry. The U.S. should be leading the wave in hybrid technology and alternative fuels versus following other countries who have been focused on developing a long-term strategy to solve critical business problems. Unfortunately, revenue growth can often make us lazy. What I define as strategy is a detailed, analytical understanding for where a company needs to be in 3-5 years versus next quarter or even next year. This must become the guiding light for driving organizational alignment.

We also have to stop viewing the CIO as being the only person responsible for the technical strategy to support the business strategy. Technology is and will continue to be a key influence on the business strategy, so if business executives are not tech savvy, then business strategy will suffer. Having the right technical knowledge will also ensure that IT expectations are set correctly versus asking the CIO to create miracles on a shoe-string budget. At the same time, if an IT executive does not fully understand and contribute to the business strategy or is too operationally focused, then technology can become the achilles tendon for the company.

While it make a good soundbite to say (as Bernie Gleason and Tom Gainer do above) that technical people need to learn how to talk to business 'leaders,' the reality is the other way around.

So called business 'leaders' are as a group atrociously unqualified in almost every way. They get their positions by old-boy (and girl) networking, saying what their superiors want to hear, and playing politics to shift blame when their bad decisions have bad consequences.

Look at the current 'crisis' in the financial sector. Look at Enron, etc. a few years ago. Look at the space shuttle explosion 20 years ago.

Over and again, fools at the top want to hear what they want to hear and blame those who actually know what they are talking about (that's the techies) when they don't hear the answers they want.

Then they outsouce critical jobs, take big golden parachute paychecks on their way out, and leave others to clean up their mess.

There is an analogous 'meltdown' coming in IT, just like in the financial world. A decade of H-1Bs and offshoring are starting to catch up in the form of broken systems and bad quality.

When the time comes to fix all this, who they gonna call? I know I'll charge top dollar and then some for my rather considerable skills.

Oh, yeah, Bernie and Tom, and others who 'think' like you: just try to run your business without IT. Maybe 30 years ago, or even 20, you could, but not today. So stop acting like the smartest people in the room, because you're not; the techies are, always have been, always will be.

I agree that executives should be more tech savvy so they can appreciate the importance of delivering solutions and services right through technology. But it is our responsibility to teach them.

I think the tech world has not been getting the right appreciation by the executives primarily because technology has done what it does so well: make things happen more easily and more quickly, and very often, behind the scenes. We are being felt but not being seen.

It is further taken for granted because of the nature of new technology to go from differentiating, exclusive, first-to-market-wins-the-race to disposable, cookie-cutter status in a couple of years. So CIOs trying to get a word in edgewise with their executives have these obstacles to overcome first.

The best way to achieve this is through talking the executives language in expressing the benefits and significance of the solutions that are proposed and then implemented, and consistently teaching them our tech language along the way (emphasis on teaching, not bombarding).

The first step is ours though, since we are the ones who have the greater need. We techs still have to realize that the business drives the need for technology and not that technology creates the demand for business.

With teaching comes understanding; with understanding comes a stronger faith in what we do. That is where we want to be.

The first step is ours.

Why does a business executive need to be IT savvy to communicate business goals and requirements to team members? Why does an IT leader need to understand business to take a list of requirements and create a solution for the business? I think what is missing in most organizations is leadership. There is no one in charge who understands the importance of communicating vision, goals and purpose and then empowering those who have the skills to do their part to reach the business goals. No business leader or IT leader can do it alone, and no one knows it all.