In many companies the function of “digital media” is recognized as a corporate department or group that stands on its own -- even if it ultimately reports through either marketing or IT.
Typically, the function of digital media is to produce content, while IT provides applications that manipulate that content. Using content management systems, digital media provide artwork, Website layout, and constant content refreshes. IT is called on to move the content among these systems (and other, backend systems that digital media personnel know nothing about) and the end users for which the content is intended.
“The relationship with IT works pretty well,” says Alan Hatcher, associate VP of publications with Primerica, a term life insurance provider, “especially when you recognize that, regardless of your function, everyone is on the same team.”
But teamwork gets more complicated as Websites add more “moving parts.” This evolution is starting to overrun the “content versus applications” dividing line between digital media departments and IT.
Hatcher remembers a time several years ago when Websites were more “static” and contained fewer moving parts. Add to this the fundamental cultural differences between digital media -- which wants a new Website “now” that it can get to market quickly -- and IT, which wants to make sure that the Website is secure and working properly.
These stress points have resulted in some digital media departments taking matters into their own hands by hiring developers so they can build their own applications. “The idea of doing this without IT can work well, as long as they understand the data,” one CIO diplomatically told me.
Unfortunately, “understanding the data” involves more than developing attractive Website displays and intuitive Website dynamics. If you’re going to touch the infrastructure data contained in corporate databases, you have to also build security best-practices and application integration that crosses networks and platforms. This is IT’s world, and clearly a place where digital media prefer not to go.
The solution is more cooperation between digital media and IT. “In working together, we understand each other better -- and we also have a strategy for application development,” says one digital media specialist. “We work with IT jointly in projects. IT lets us design the front end of the application, and they develop the backend. Then, we pilot the application together.”
This strategy borrows from sound IT project management practices and also builds in respect for fast-moving and iterative front-end changes typically required by digital media. Both sides get together in weekly “scrums,” where everyone communicates on project task status. Any problems or roadblocks are acted on immediately.
The approach seems to work. Digital media departments see the results in iterative testing that is faster and offers the ability to accommodate rapid changes. IT knows that best-practices for data movement and deployment will be followed. Most importantly, both sides are answering the new demands that sophisticated customers and users are placing on Websites and on the underlying applications that make them work.
Mary I modestly consider myself as a very good teacher:) that can not only understand both languages ( IT and human ones:) but also to interpretate them. So one of my personal reasons to be proud of myself- a metaphor for conflicts at the cmmunication seminar for IT managers who used to be developers, testers and QAs .
I suggested them to treat any conflict with a client as a bug- you have to do the best to avoid the bugs but if you have then- you are testing your company guys. So, you have to deal with it- the way you deal with bugs- find it- fix it and make sure the same bug will never come again.
They do provide "soft skills" training to IT, Mashka--but one of the things they are liable to miss is teaching you not to get technical "jargon" words into your communications.
Mary, I am sure there is a problem of simple communication language. "Usual people" do not understand IT guys. Recently we have been doing a training for one large IT company on communication. So when my collegue and co-coach was looking through my presentation she asked me- what's "bug", What's " lamer"? And I am not even and IT person, I studied Internet and I have IT friends.
So I guess, there some courses of better communication between IT and "normal people" should be organised to get both parts working together.
...and that becomes more of a political problem, then.
I am a great optimist when it comes to workng out problems and enabling disparate groups of people to work together.
But there is that "spot" that you can sometimes arrive at (fortunately, it is not too often) when the true impediments are people and their willingness, and you can go no further.
In those cases, you must "let go" and let people go their own way.
Nine times out of ten, they come back to you for the expertise that you offered months later--and the project is in worse shape.
Mary - I'm a marketer by profession but I also am very techie—I could code if my life depended on it. Much of my work is about merging marketing and technology, along with factoring in operations and finance. And yes, I do see that IT has to adjust most of the time, as the organization's sustenance depends on marketing. But there are times when marketers need to trust IT. There are technical skills and knowledge in every field, and rarely can one person fully grasp other people's specialization. That's exactly why we specialize. If marketing execs (i.e. people at the top) don't quite get what an API is after a brief explanation, it's time to drop it and just trust the tech guys you hired. The problem happens when they don't want to.
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