I.T. in Crisis: A New Business Model

For half a century at least, I.T. teams have focused on solving business problems through computer technology - and largely ignoring the human element in their interactions with end users. In his new book I.T. IN CRISIS: A NEW BUSINESS MODEL, consultant L. Paul Ouellette shows how to bring the I.T. team into the twenty-first century. Organizations that employ I.T. professionals are facing a new economic landscape - one where closer, more engaged relationships with internal and external customers are not merely nice if you can get it, but essential for organizational survival. I.T.'s old business as usual approach - and let the relationship thing take care of itself - is, Ouellette warns, now a recipe for disaster. I.T.'s challenge is to adapt to the customer-focused operational realities of the twenty-first century. Teams that meet this challenge will thrive, and will create extraordinary opportunities for themselves and their organizations. Teams that don't, Ouellette believes, will be marginalized or phased out. How do we make this (long-overdue) transition? By upgrading the I.T. Professional's skill sets - and moving from the back room to the forefront of the business, the place where person-to-person connections with customers as human beings take place. In I.T. IN CRISIS: A NEW BUSINESS MODEL, Ouellette offers proven, real-world strategies for I.T. teams to forge closer bonds with their end users. He shows I.T. professionals how to change the way their customers think about I.T., how to improve I.T.'s standing within their own organizations, and how to enhance their own careers -Paul offers the 1 tool to turn negative relations into a positive one. Methods for successfully conducting the 3 main points of your clients' interactions, learn what clients really want from I.T. and the 5 steps to building your sustainable service strategy. Building very specific empathy, listening skills, rapport-building, and over