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Ideas on Change and Client Credibility

Posted on November 24, 2006 8:09 PM

Most of the time when IT organizations are failing they don't even know it is happening. We should continuously assess the whole campus and measure how the clients feel about the people and services provided by IT. It is the responsibility of everyone in IT to pay attention to the work being done and how the clients perceive you and those services.

This measurement tool is part of the IT strategic plan:

Change Mgmt Graphic

The purpose of IT communications and marketing is to create an understanding and support for a service or product before it is offered. It is also a change management process that prepares a company or client to absorb and quickly benefit from a change. For example, Apple creates new products and change faster than perhaps any other computer company. But Apple creates the demand before the product is launched, and the customers eagerly accept and enjoy this fast-changing process. In fact, many Apple customers get upset when Apple doesn't change fast enough.

As a CIO, I want everyone to know that IT is not changing things for the sake of change. The client needs to know that every product or service change was designed to make their jobs easier and the College more successful. The success of any service or system will hang on how invested the clients are in that solution.

IT should view any new system or service from the client perspective. We need to see how clients see IT services and technology. Do they think we are credible? Do they trust us? Will they accept us in a leadership or consulting role? If they don't, then it is our responsibility to get them there.

IT staff need to see and treat each other as clients. We all need to understand how an IT staff views his/her role in IT and at Bowdoin. Are they excited about working in IT at Bowdoin? Do they think you are credible? Do they trust you? Are they ready to support your efforts to make IT a better more productive division at the College? If they are on the fence or not getting involved then it is everyone's job to bring them along.

Currently IT has established some credibility and trust with our clients but there is still work to done. Communication in IT and with the rest of the College requires constant attention. As the technology skills, sophistication and request for services of our clients grow, so must IT staff skills, solutions, systems and knowledge. We are all learning to master the art of living with constant and hopefully beneficial change.


Follow these very simple rules and you will be successful in IT at Bowdoin:

1. Every IT decision is made to make the College more successful and the client more productive.

2. Never buy or create technology that does not achieve these two goals.

3. If we need technology that helps IT work better but doesn't provide any noticeable benefit to the client then the client should not feel the change.

4. Build and replace older systems with integrated and optimized solutions so that maintaining them reduces cost and takes less time and effort.

5. Communicate everything clearly and often.

The next three years should be very exciting and interesting for everyone at the College and IT. Bowdoin is an amazing place and my hope is that IT has what it takes to be part of that extended effort to make it even better.


Mitch Davis
CIO

Comments (1)

Mitch Davis:

When anyone in IT is planning how to launch a new solution that creates disruptive change for a client, we need to remember that "credibility is earned in dimes but spent in dollars".

Credibility is what we spend with our clients when we disrupt their daily lives. To keep clients believing IT is acting in their best interest, IT needs to listen to the client, create a minimum of disruption and clearly communicate the benefits of any change or solution before it is created.

This approach should keep client credibility high so IT can remain successful even if something does go wrong.

Posted by Mitch Davis on December 1, 2006 8:51 AM

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