Engaging Non-IT Executives in IT Infrastructure Decisions

Abstract

This case study describes how information technology (IT) managers from Insurance Co. successfully engaged non-IT executives in IT infrastructure investment decisions. This enabled IT and non-IT stakeholder groups to take greater control of shared resources and achieve synergies that neither group could have achieved on its own. We describe three factors that enabled this type of engagement. First, the infrastructure group and the application development group developed strong internal IT capabilities to strengthen local alignment. Second, IT leaders also introduced short-term and long-term engagement opportunities for IT and non-IT stakeholder groups, representing local and enterprise-wide interests, to interact with each other. Finally, participants created several resources for managing interdependencies between applications, IT infrastructure services, and business objectives. Once engaged, and drawing on their capabilities and resources, IT and non-IT stakeholder groups developed a better understanding of how local applications related to each other and to shared resources, such as IT infrastructure.