As marketers, we talk about unifying our approach all the time. We're at the centre (or try to be), ensuring all of our messages are congruent, speaking for the company on all faces. We try to understand everyones needs, and deliver results that keeps everyone happy, juggling aggressive sales pushes while still managing to keep finance happy.

We should always attempt to practise what we preach, and ask IT colleagues for advice and help, from planning to implementation. Not only this, but some projects may quickly become an IT resource or even security nightmare - you have a duty to clear everything with your IT dept.

Of course, it's easy for me to say that - I work for a tech company where almost everyone has a great understanding of what is and isn't possible in this brave new age ;)

Interesting question, Paul!

Anne, thank you for taking the time to comment. You make a very good point about technology projects planned -outside of IT- as a potential security risk. With a corporation's data at stake-- as one of its most powerful and valuable assets--marketers cannot be too careful in how we manage/store/use that data.

This can be a tough balance. Speaking from an IT perspective, I feel that in the web industry, people who's principle function is marketing should be tech aware at least--they should be already be using social media tools and experimenting on their own so that their needs can be clearly articulated. The "IT department" especially at small companies, is often full of people with experience not only in implementation, but in business strategy. It if frustrating to have leadership people come back from an event and say "We need to do some analytics, so let's buy X, Y, and Z." My reaction is "ok, how are you going to use that?" It's not like you just buy the technology and it solves all your problems. I'd rather hear, "Can we set up google analytics and see what it does?" I'd rather be pulled in as a partner on some technology project than be seen as just an implementor. But I'm probably a bad example; if were the CEO, I'd be doing an "end run" around my IT department so as not to waste their time on my experiments.

One of the biggest challenges from a marketer's perspective is being hamstrung by a legacy system that should have been upgraded more than a decade ago. To alleviate issues like that, a competent and fluent (not guaranteed) IT representative with apparent authority (and a ton of business development/ERP experience) needs to be involved early in the process to evaluate the opportunities, total costs, and implications of the proposals.

Dave, your comments highlight one of the biggest frustrations for IT departments. Marketers go to ITexpo's, or marketing conferences and come back with all kinds of business cards, brochures and good ideas. The trick, however, is as you mentioned--"partnering" with IT, i.e. looping them into the implementation of these "good ideas". Two heads are often better than one.

Cam, thank you for adding to the discussion. You bring up a sore point for most IT execs, in that typically 80% of their budget is spent on upkeep of legacy systems. Replacement? No money- thus upkeep is the only option. That leaves a small 20% discretionary budget for new initiatives. To net it out, marketers need to understand the technologies they're proposing, ramifications of their proposal on the rest of the "system" and present a compelling business case as to how their proposal will drive business value.

Great post, Paul. Since I left Corporate America to start my own business, this is thankfully, not my problem any longer:). Seriously, though, I recall having had to go it alone in marketing more often than not, in my last job. Invariably I'd approach IT to make changes or add programming to better help us to track information, rather than spend on new software, although that certainly happened, as well.

Due to the fact the sales department, accounting staff, operations and logistics people were all going to IT with their requests, not to mention the company's executives with theirs, the answer was always the same. "We'll do it for you, but stand in line. Your request is #125 on the list." There wasn't any sarcasm in the statement; it was true. It was also apparent we'd have to adapt to circumstances and work around the fact IT couldn't deliver what we needed, when we needed it.

I confess this often led me to wonder how the IT Department was managed. Their attitude seemed to reflect a lack of understanding--or any sense of urgency--about the other departments they interfaced with. The needs and the issues that impacted the total company were not in the forefront of IT's collective mindset. And the separate silos issue rears its ugly head yet again. . .

This often led me to wonder why the top brass in the company didn't get department heads together in an effort to better understand the part that each of them contributed to the whole.

Anyway, in spite of constantly increasing IT staff, there was never enough personnel, or hours in the work week, to deliver the solutions we all needed. Bear in mind, this was a fast-growing business that undertook a series of mergers and acquisitions in a short period of time, as well. But I'm sure many marketers deal with the same scenario. It's frustrating for all concerned. And in this time of corporate budget and staff cuts, I think some of these problems will be exacerbated, at least in the short term.

Claire, you bring up some very important points that I'd like to address.

First is organizational governance, of which IT governance is a subset. Good governance processes help align resources, prioritize, plan and hold people accountable for results. With good governance in place, requests like yours don’t go to the back of the line. Instead they are carefully considered in relation to the good of the whole and based on business value and business constraints (budget, talent etc…). So in your instance, your project might have gone to the front of the “queue” based on its potential ROI instead of “back of the line” at #125.

Second trend is IT leaders are becoming much more business focused. IT leaders are transforming themselves into business enablers moreso than simply, “we keep the lights on”. This is a slow process, but as IT puts more focus on business results; this will be a positive trend for marketers.

Last point, you mention about the lack of coordination and collaboration by department heads around investment opportunities. Some of this can be solved through good governance processes, but much of it will depend on improvements towards a more collaborative culture and less politics. Not impossible, but hardly going to happen overnight.

Claire, thank you for adding significantly to the conversation.

Marketers clash with IT is just a symptom of a bigger problem. Marketing shouldn't be seen as a department, but a strategy for the whole company.

Get IT involved. Even if there is a lot of red-tape in the beginning, it should get easier as time goes on and your goals align. If we keep rerouting our efforts to avoid people and departments, then we can never change the misconceptions about marketing.

Well, our CIO is very interested in marketing and participates in discussions and presents very creative ideas.

We recently promoted a developer with a dual degree in computer science and business to product manager for our flagship service. He is a very strong developer and has the background and passion to be an outstanding product manager, too.

I think it is absolutely essential for firms to coordinate between these the technical and the marketing and not see them as separate worlds. They are no longer separate worlds and should not be treated as such.

Lively discussion and great insights. I agree with Chris that IT be roped in for changing the perception of marketing, as today they touch every aspect of business. With more client transaction interactions becoming automated, it is necessary to use every avenue to enhance the brand and engage the customer.

On Marketing's own needs for IT enablement, it is only in the last 3 years or so that software products or SaaS based solutions that target marketing as a process have become available. IT departments are yet to catch up on them and definitely on Web 2.0, social media and collaboration technologies. They have also historically been focused on internal processes be it finance, manufacturing, HR etc. and their appreciation of engaging the customer through technology is just blossoming. Since marketing is all about timing, till that gap in understanding what is happening in the marketing technology markeplace is bridged, marketing will make end-runs around IT.

A great article. Personally feel as time changes, it is important for IT to think like a marketer and marketer to integrate IT in their process - as one team. IT needs to propose ideas and advances WITHOUT marketing or business asking for it. Switch the mindset a little. IT is no longer 'traditional'. They have to be business.

The internet space is so dynamic that keeping up with IT is a race with no finishing line (How can we compete with Google?). You have to work smart and pick what is best and relevant in the IT field and implement it with an excellent operational structure to streamline.

Alternatively, partnerships is another idea to look into. You don't always have to build something.

Things move so fast that partnership is a way to get the edge quickly, and once that 'wave' is over, 'dump it/re-use it/re-customise it' or pick up the next 'upgrade' or partner for that matter and keep moving.

This reduces the gap for development.

Maintenance is an important matter to consider but with technologies these days, with the 'aggregated' model, it's a blank sheet with applications being 'plug and play'.

My two cents :)

www.popmarketingonline.com

Great post, Paul on a very relevant topic.

@Shekar's comments are spot on. Marketing SaaS (Social media, email marketing, analytics, etc.) are not so much end-arounds, but IT playing catch-up from solely supporting email, CRM, front-office, and back-office systems.

Let's face it. The C-Suite is just starting to get comfortable with transparency. Until they look to IT to become more than the security wall around the enterprise fortress, it is marketing that is going to champion the risks and systems involved with getting there.

The line between interactive marketing and IT is so blurry, that I have managed a full development shop outside of IT within my role. Over time those folks have moved into the IT function where they more happily belong, and can carry the increased load of this tech-savvy marketer's demands. Our CIO is happy to leave the weight of some of these demands on my shoulders while he keeps the lights on. It is a great partnership.

My recommendation is to build very strong communication channels with IT and work together to achieve the technical agility that we are expected to have in today's marketplace.

Chris, thank you for posting your comments. I agree that marketing should be a corporate strategy, and not seen as a dept, but you and I both know that this is not the case in 95-98% of organizations. And even worse, many marketers are OK with the idea of being a silo--when we need to be, as you pointed out, just the opposite.

Neil, I'm finding more case studies of covergence where --as in your company- CIOs are more involved in the business, and marketers are more versed on technology. This convergence will assist alignment and collaboration around shared goals.

Shekar, thank you for taking the time to post comments. You are right, IT has mostly concerned itself with back office processes and 'keeping the lights on' for many organizations. As technologists get more business savvy, you will see more focus on driving enhanced business processes -esp those around the customer.

That said, I'm not convinced that marketers know as much about customer centric technology as we think we do.

Gerald, your comments about one mindset between IT and marketing are spot on. Walk a day in each others shoes through cross training, attend each other's functional meetings, have dept heads meet bi-weekly, and attend tradeshows together. These are just some techniques to align the functions and as you say, "switch the mindset".

Kris, thank you for commenting. Your situation, I'm sure, didn't develop overnight and didn't happen without tons of communication, deft political navigation, and tech-smarts on your side. Your approach to take on some of the IT responsibility might not work for every company, but you assessed your unique situation and found a way through. Bravo!

Paul, I believe this is absolutely essential.

Our CIO needs to be involved in marketing.

And the fact that we promoted a developer (computer scientist) to be product manager for our fastest growing service is significant as well in better integrating marketing and technology.

These are some great comments. As an IT Consultant I have seen a number of Marketing Projects go belly up for a number of reasons. These reasons can range from

* users not really knowing what they want

* leading edge technology that the company does not have the resources to support

* lack of senior management support

I know it's tempting to do the IT run-around but often times when it comes to needing support IT isn't in the position to support it because they wern't involved.

It is important to keep the lines of communication open and work with IT, while at the sametime becoming educated consumers of the technology you want to use.

Jane Lovas is the President of Lovas Consulting, a technology consulting firm. She also speaks on technology. Her current speach is 'How NOT to have a successful IT Project'.

Jane can be reached at jlovas@lovasconsulting.com