Is there any such thing as ‘The Business’?
me that IT must be aligned with the needs of ‘the business’, as if I just had one customer.> > > > > “The reality is that I am constantly refereeing in squabbles over budgets, resources and priorities between the heads of the eight divisions I support, and I know that within each of those divisions, people are squabbling at the next level down too. My problem is not aligning what I do with the business, but getting those in the businesses to align themselves with each other.”
Very true. This kind of thing happens in most organisations, regardless of size. This is a fairly IT-centric view (what else to expect from El Reg, though). All parts of the business are always balancing their own needs against the balancing act of everyone else’s demands on them and each other. Tricky stuff, but a good management team will go far in mitigating the situation by encouraging open communication and fostering the idea of all the department heads being on one team together, as well as leading the teams they’re responsible for.