Let me ask you a question.

Why doesn’t your company value IT more?

What comes to mind?

Make a list.

What’s on it?

If you don’t mind me asking…

Are you on the list?

How much does the CEO value you?

This isn’t a trick question.

It has to start with you.

How are you attacking the day?

Are you taking full responsibility for everything that happens to you?

If you are then, wow!

That’s truly wicked awesome!

You are already doing more than 80% of the world.

Unfortunately, too much I.T. talent is wasted living a lame, unfulfilling life, filled with an endless list of irritating issues and trouble tickets.

Now, back to your list… the one about why your company doesn’t value IT.

Crumple it up and throw it away.

No one gives a flying flip about your list.

No one cares.

People care about themselves.

They care about their lists, their issues, and their dreams.

You’re the nerd walking around blankly tending to their issues.

You help people when they throw their hands up in the air.

And we love you for it!

We do… we really do.

But after that quick fix, it’s back to what “actually matters” (not you).

Your list is lost, not even shredded, (that would’ve been too secure).

It just blows down the halls of the office like a tumbleweed.

You’re part of the broken system.

You’re moving levers.

Gluing broken glass.

Putting paddles to the network.

Doing everything short of circumventing the speed of light.

Let’s look at an example:

Meet Johnny.

AKA, “Mr. ticket taker.”

He manages a large network that supports around 400 employees throughout multiple geographic locations.

Johnny is in charge of managing a team that handles desktop support, security, the phone system, AV systems, auxiliary devices, and a long list of underperforming applications.

Every day he wakes up to a number of issues.

He is constantly dealing with outages, email issues, project management for new locations, service delivery delays, malware breakouts, phone system change requests, VPN connectivity, slow application performance, voice quality issues, training, hiring new employees, dealing with rogue haters, nepotism, and maintaining a strict budget.

Johnny is waiting to be thanked and high fived by the CEO, but wonders why he is seemingly undervalued.

Man, what the hell? This company would shut down without me. They have no clue what I do on a daily basis.

To further exasperate things, the whole place is a compliance nightmare. 

The network is vulnerable.

Johnny asks for help, makes it plainly clear how bad things are, but he’s hidden like a wounded fawn in the tall grass of the Kalahari.

Johnny’s a bleeding, three-legged baby gazelle.

Every day he’s waiting to be chased down by a Cheetah, and no one gives a flying flip.

Explanations and requests for network upgrades get blank stares at the boardroom table.

Impassioned sales leaders, on the other hand, always get new devices and demand unfettered access to their laptops.

They download flash, enable macros, smash their laptops and demand replacements.

New days fly by painting a portrait of overwhelming burnout and Johnny’s one ticket short of becoming splattered grey matter on the wall of the server room. 

Did I mention that no one cares?

They really don’t because Johnny quickly gets replaced by a visionary new guy.

This dude has energy and NO CERTS.

Heck, he graduated with a creative writing degree.

Here’s the good news…

It’s not that bad.

It’s just a job.

But that’s the point, it’s just a job.

You can go home every day and jump out of planes, rock climb, hug your loved ones, eat tacos, go shopping for new shoes, and be grateful for all the blessings bestowed upon you.

You are very fortunate, but work is not as rewarding.

It’s a daily battle.

You love the challenge.

You love your career.

You’re looking to build an amazing network and make your mark,

But it takes time, money, and resources… all of which you are being denied.

So why can’t you break through?

What’s the deal?

First, let’s take a look at the people who don’t give a crap about what Johnny does until they need their password reset.

I am talking about the boardroom team that stares blankly and curls their eyebrows at you.

Why don’t they care?

In short, they don’t want to, because you don’t speak in terms of money other than, “Can I have some please?”

Your crap is uber boring, unexciting, and about as inspiring as Ferris Bueller’s high school economics teacher, “Bueller… Bueller…Bueller…”

Besides, that long list of crap you deal with on a daily basis, it’s just the simple job requirements.

People see this stuff as the basics.

No one is going to undermine the budget so a streamlined system can make your life easier.

But everything is clear to you, right?

The company is out of compliance, the phone system is a piece o’ junk, managing multiple VPNs is stupid, complicated IP schemes are killing productivity, Lotus notes isn’t cutting it, the file server needs to go, the CRM should be replicated in the cloud, and there are multiple other scenarios creating a domino effect.

You need money for upgrades and you aren’t getting them.

You need to hire and train staff members, but you get denied for the extra “headcount”.

In order to understand why your department (one of the most valuable in the company) is getting the short end of the stick, we need to step into the shoes of the CEO.

Do you have any clue what the CEO does on a daily basis?

Really, have you ever sat down and asked…

What’s their vision for the business?

Who’s the competition?

What purpose does the business serve?

How much money is the business making?

What’s the CEO’s personal visions, aspirations, and goals?

Are you passionately bought into that vision?

How does the company stand in the marketplace?

Is your company profitable?

What’s your EBITDA?

Gross margin?

COGs?

Controllable and Uncontrollable costs?

What are the current obstacles?

I would imagine that 80% of IT Directors have only a slight clue.

You probably care about EBITDA as much as your CEO cares about email Phishing.

(Did your boss ask any you questions about the Equifax breach? Just curious.)

I would also bet that most IT directors haven’t had that personal one-on-one time.

Most IT guys are not getting into the head of the CEO.

Most are struggling to do the job they do.

But that conversation with the CEO is not enough.

Are you a valued part of the leadership team?

Do you mirror, understand on every level, complement, and add to the vision of the company?

“No… I… am… just… a… drone… compute… compute…”

The good news is that 80% of the world fails miserably at giving a crap.

Most wouldn’t spend time even reading this article.

But here you are at a thousand words into this thing.

So, what are you going to do?

How do you make an impact and go from a lame life of drudgery to IT Director superstar?

What’s the bridge?

You have to connect with the goals of the business.

You must understand the language of business.

Get off your island of isolation named, SOMEDAY ISLE.

It’s very easy for you to make minor adjustments, in a short period of time, that can drastically affect positive change in your organization.

I know, because I’ve been supporting CTOs, CIOs, and IT Directors for years.

You can move into the top 20% fairly quickly, and then the top 5%.

Start here:

What’s the ONE THING that your business owner or organization wants to achieve?

They want to grow, while spending the least amount of money, and make the biggest mountain of cash, in the shortest period of time.

That’s IT!

A simple and rich mindset is where you start.

Businesses want to make money, and the good thing for you is that technology is one of the easiest ways to do it.

But hold on, why are c-levels not acting on things like compliance?

Do they think they can get by without it?

Where does it fall on the long list of priorities?

Why do they need new phones, if the old ones still ring?

Why do they need new firewalls… MPLS… VMs… 365 Migrations…more staff… and training programs?

All those requests get a, “Hell no!” but they should be getting a “Hell yes!!”

“Johnny, could you just make my computer work a little faster please?”

This principle rolls all the way downhill to the people you manage and serve.

If people think they can get their job done faster, easier, and better without following some rule then forget about getting their buy-in as well.

They don’t understand that a Salesforce API could generate 10% more productivity, which would in turn lead to more sales.

In fact, you might not either.

But if you did… you might get approved for that budget increase.

So, what are you going to do?

First, think lean.

Where can you get free stuff?

How can you get free trial periods and POCs?

Where can you cut costs and find more money?

What equipment can you donate for a tax write-off?

Get it?

Put on your business shoes.

Second, start having business productivity conversations with people.

What obstacles are getting in people’s way?

Start relating the business goals as a whole to everyone.

Ask what technology tools they could use?

What are their productivity patterns?

Who can you bounce this information off of?

Is there anyone on your team or in your circle of influence that has kicked some donkey before?

Who has done it and done it well?

Third, you need to start selling your plans and re-aligning them with the business’s objectives.

How?

By showing measurable results and proof.

Make a business case for the numbers.

Show the hard costs and savings?

Learn how to demonstrate real ROI.

What are the hidden value multipliers?

Can you pull industry statistics?

Who can you lean on to get free info and market analysis?

You need to measure, calculate, and prove everything.

• How much time is being wasted doing X?
• How many voicemails go unanswered by the sales team?
• How much time is being wasted on application performance?
• How much money is being spent on X?
• How much money is being spent on telecom?
• How much money is lost during a phishing attack?

Are their ways you can do more with X to get Y.

Can you renegotiate something to a lower price and add something you need without paying more money?

How many labor hours could be cut if we did Y?

(Labor, by the way, is a huge controllable cost.)

How can you cut labor and increase efficiency?

AND…………..

• What is the COST of a trouble-ticket on sales, productivity, and labor?
• What is the COST of a network outage?
• What is the COST of a telecom outage?
• What is the COST of slow connections to AWS, SF, EMR Software, and thousands of other hosted applications?

In summary, the precious network that you want to build, the tools, the training, the security, the application performance, and all the bills need to point to one thing:

Growth with increased profitability.

You need to show measurable results.

This may seem like an overwhelming and daunting task.

Thus, why many just crawl back into the server closet and take a nap.

It’s warm in there on the hot days and freezing in the winter.

The sprinkler system can wet everything down if there is a small fire anywhere in the building.

If you are experiencing such frustrations, let me help you bridge the gap.

You already know where you want to go.

You already know what you need.

The next step is creating the business case and making a winning presentation.

In short, you are not a utility expense.

You are a team player that draws more money to the bottom line.

What kind of money is the business leaving on the table?

If you are experiencing anxiety over all this, don’t worry.

It’s not that complicated.

1: Start by getting the numbers, people’s feedback, and current costs.

2: Present the pain, present the lost revenue, paint a realistic picture of what is going to happen if you don’t change, and the tangible assets you will gain by changing.

3: Provide a solution with measurable results and returns.

4: Offer a test, trial period, and proof of concept.

Now go make ’em love you.

Final thoughts:

I understand when there is so much going on that it can be hard to step out and get a clear picture of where to start.

Competing priorities make us jump from one fire to the next.

You’re drinking from the firehose.

I see it almost every day.

Who are you leaning on for help?

Who do you surround yourself with?

Don’t surround yourself with idiots and dirtbags.

“Don’t take advice from people more screwed up than you,” – Tom Hopkins.

Who are your colleagues, coaches, and mentors?

Surround yourself with people that are better than you.

Phil Howard, Managing Partner AppSmart

Your job is to implement a true end-to-end technology solution. My job is to make sure you find the best-in-class technology for your business.

With a unique skillset and the single largest vendor platform in the industry I help you find, buy, and manage the right solution.  Not every solution is the same and neither is your business, but the process of streamlining technology should create simplicity, cost savings, and exponential growth.