Align IT with the Real End Customer

Organizations are becoming increasingly focused on the customer and much of this focus places technology at the center. However, the business units feel uncomfortable working with IT for customer-related projects because they don’t believe that IT understands the customer. IT struggles to understand what they should be doing different to support this growing customer-focus.
Often by the time feedback from the customer reaches IT, it has been passed through many layers of the organization, altering the message. This process of passing on feedback is typically slow, delaying changes to customer solutions.
Despite being uniquely positioned across the organization, IT is generally removed from decisions regarding the end customer. IT staff are unsure how to come forth with ideas that could benefit the end customer resulting in many good ideas going unnoticed.

Our Advice

Becoming aligned with the customer is doable. By taking a step-by-step, holistic approach, the CIO can build a customer-centric IT department.
Business unit heads are a key partner throughout this project. IT must engage the customer with the business.
To minimize surprises, build an iterative process called a feedback loop to continually respond to customer preferences.

Being successful does not require turning your developers into sales representatives. Instead, take a process-driven approach, grounded in what you know.
IT and the business must collaborate to talk to the customer together rather than the business passing on customer feedback to IT. Changing the process is absolutely essential to the success of this project.
Develop feedback loops between IT and the customer. Balance the feedback mechanism you choose with the size of investment and the delay your organization is willing to undertake.