Now in Marketing after 15 years of managing technology infrastructure I have gained insights into the similarities and differences between IT and Marketing. This is the last post in a series of four posts.
In the first post in this series we considered what Marketing doesn’t know about IT. In the second post we looked at the flip side. In the third post we looked at the similarities between the two departments. In the final post we looked at why these two are bound at the hip. This is a BONUS post, what can IT & Marketing do together?
So if you’re IT what can you do to foster a better relationship with Marketing?
| Topical Marketing Initiatives | What IT can do today. |
| Speed to Market | Determine development and support processes that could and should be accelerated to ensure product and services get to market quickly.  Be specific. Identify success criteria & metrics. Celebrate successes. |
| Adjusting to New Technology | There is a rash of new technologies that Marketing needs to adjust to. IT can reach out and lead conversations on which technologies matter and which are fads. IT has a long history or accessing technology and Marketing could benefit from IT’s experience. |
| Market Research & Customer Intelligence | Identify gaps and opportunities associated with capturing, storing, and managing customer behaviors and attitudes at a macro and micro level. Â Invest in technology to harvest information and intelligence from the data collected. |
If you’re Marketing, what can you do to foster a better relationship with IT?
| Topical IT Initiatives | What Marketing can do today. |
| Invest Smartly | Spend time with IT discussing Marketing priorities. Be precise in what is needed and what features can be delayed. Involve IT early in the process. Reach out to IT with business problems and opportunities, not solutions. |
| Business Partnership | Marketing can advocate for technology improvements. It can be an active member of an IT planning committee. Through training programs Marketing can become more tech savvy and seek to understand how new technologies (Web 2.0) are affecting the Marketing profession. |