Over the course of my ten years in business development for Newfangled I have seen some excellent potential projects bite the dust based solely on a negative response from someone in the prospect's IT department. This is particularly frustrating when said technologist was not even part of the sales conversation. If we could only have discovered technological objections earlier, we could have provided answers or re-evaluated the needs and saved everyone involved from wasting their time. Some technology hurdles are objective - such as requiring Microsoft based technology. Other hurdles are subjective - such as how an IT professional feels about a particular vendor.
Because a sale is won largely on the basis of trust, establishing trust with the IT professional is crucial. This is much easier said than done. It's the IT department's job to protect the company from bad technological investments that could end up costing a whole lot more than the price tag of a proposed project. So they are rightfully suspicious and critical of outside technologies for which they are ultimately responsible.
This month's newsletter addresses to the concerns of the IT guy (or IT gal - but IT Guy rhymes so I'm going with it) that agencies that broker web development projects must answer to. Hopefully this newsletter can help build trust with the IT guy.
Overcome the IT barrier through communication
If you've ever read the comic strip "Dilbert" and laughed out loud, it's probably because it hit so close to home. The comic may be hyperbolic, but it is based in real world corporate culture. The comic's namesake, Dilbert, is admittedly nerdy. Nevertheless, he is the comic's hero. We sympathize with his plight. IT professionals the world over have pinned their favorite Dilbert comics to their cubicle walls. I do not envy them in their role, though I greatly respect what they must do. Hopefully, your company has a Dilbert who, though constantly frustrated, never loses his hope that someday, someone in management will actually make a good technological decision based on their professional advice. Fortunately, most IT professionals I've met have not given up the fight. They have not completely surrendered to cynicism like Dilbert's co-worker Wally.
Now here's the thing that you (the advertising agency), your client contact (the marketing director), and me (the outside consultant/vendor) must face up to. We sit in the chair of the guy with pointy hair. I don't like it, but whenever I am introduced to the "IT guys" in a new business meeting, what hair I have left magically grows three or four inches straight up over my ears. I swear I can see it in their eyes. They're not looking at my eyes when I talk. Their gaze is directed slightly upward at those two tuffs of pointy hair above my head. I'm not sure if they're hearing what I'm saying at all or if it just sounds like, "blah, blah, blah, open source...", "blah, blah, blah, proprietary...", "blah, blah, blah, blah, hosting fee." I can see their exasperation grow while the ad guy (you) and the marketing guy (your client) smile and nod ignorantly as they buy into my schpiel. Meanwhile, the IT guys build their list of objections to our software, criticisms of our hosting platform or disapproval of our choice of technology.
Can't we all just get along?
Dilbert reflects reality. There is a huge mote between marketing and technology and it is swimming with the sharks of mistrust. Nevertheless, our newfangled technological world forces marketing and technology to work together for better or for worse. This means that from time to time the IT guys must raise the portico, lower the drawbridge and allow foreigners into the corporate castle. While I'm never comfortable standing in the place of the suspect, I would suggest that the first stage in getting along is to respect the fact that precautions are wise and necessary. Therefore, we should willingly submit to scrutiny to overcome initial distrust and to begin productive communication to determine, based on actual needs analysis, whether or not a particular technical solution is a good fit.
