Page 250 - Performance Leadership

Chapter 12 Performance Networks • 239

IT department always knows about a new technology that would help.
However, there are continuous discussions on how to do things “well”
and how to measure “success.” IT likes to take a thorough approach
and build robust systems and processes. Management wants to be the
first mover and win the business at hand.
Part of the systems landscape is based on packaged enterprise
resource planning (ERP) software. The software vendor enjoys work-
ing with the IT department and provides special treatment as the IT
department is always willing to act as a beta-test site. The company also
engages with the software vendors as codeveloper for new, business-spe-
cific modules. The measures of success seem to be straightforward: it
is about shortening implementation cycles while having a good match
between the new implementation and the functional requirements of
the business. Despite the clear business case, often discussions flare up
during the design phase. The software vendor is pushing for the use of
standards, to make sure it can resell the codeveloped software to a
broader audience. The IT department usually proposes innovative
technologies to go the extra mile.
Where the relationship with the software vendor is based on joint
value, the relationship with the Internet provider is much more transac-
tional. There is a service-level agreement that provides clear commit-
ments on availability, scalability, and performance to run the Web-based
applications in the field. There is not much discussion between the Inter-
net provider and the company, except with regard to the cost. Both par-
ties agree that security is of the highest importance. But whereas the
Internet provider sees that as an area where it can charge a premium on
top of the standard service, the IT department feels such security should
be a basic service included in the price. Although the Internet provider
claims it provides transparency by introducing various pricing levels
based on completeness of service, the cost-saving mentality of the IT
department leads to the feeling that the IT department should switch to
another provider that provides a complete package for a single price.
The relationship between the IT department and users is somewhat
complex. The IT department services both the front office as well as
the back office. The back office users are looking for reliable, fast solu-
tions so that IT is not a bottleneck and everyone can go home at 5 p.m.
Although the front office users want the same reliability, they also want