Forging a relationship between IT and the business

Paul Mason, CEO of retail IT specialists, PMC, considers IT is incorrectly positioned in many retail organizations.

Although retailers are among the first to admit that their businesses cannot operate without IT, too few have IT represented at board level.

The best relationship between IT and business is formed when IT people are 'man-to-man' marking the key players in the business. Typically, in retail environments, buying, merchandising and store operations directors should have someone from IT working as a 'virtual' part of their internal senior management team. These individuals should attend business meetings in addition to IT meetings. They should attend planning sessions, weekly senior management meetings and be part of the business performance review, work on company strategy forums and be able to contribute to the decision making process.

Retailers need their key IT people to have a dialogue, in business terms, with the senior team that runs the business. Establishing this relationship means that when IT people form IT strategy they do so from a base that includes real-world buying, merchandising and store operations knowledge.

This approach enables IT to react in a timely way, to be proactive and influence business decisions and strategy. It gives them the ability to combine a business perspective with an understanding of what can be done with the systems they have. Without this dialogue, decisions can be made at board level, the business committed to a course of action and the responsibility passed to the IT department - unfortunately, what the business is instructing the IT department to achieve may not be feasible.

The dependency that most businesses have on technology today makes it essential that the IT director sits on the board, hence the creation of the CIO (Chief Information Officer). However, relegating the IT Director to sit under finance or some other director is a mistake that still occurs in retail. Without IT you cannot run a retail business – you cannot order stock, open the shop or pay your bills - neither can you afford to relegate responsibility for this business critical function to anyone other than a board member.

The issue is compounded by the lack of high calibre individuals capable of operating at a business level and understanding IT issues. There is no need to be overtly technical, but to know what technology can and cannot do. Business-IT people must know how to architect the systems to serve their business. This is the challenge for the non-board IT director or senior IT person - gain vital business experience, add general and business management capabilities to their skills toolbox and forge the relationship between IT and the business.

For further information please contact enquiries@pmcretail.com

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