Want to promote harmony between marketing and IT? Try these steps.
*Conference swap. Send marketing to IT conferences that feature sessions on digital marketing and IT to marketing conferences that do likewise. Both teams should come back with new perspective and some great ideas.
*Shadow each other. Let marketing see what it's like in IT's shoes for a day and vice versa. Marketing will get a better sense of the broad demands on IT, and IT will learn that marketing's key goal is to generate new ideas and customer demand.
*Bring on the shiny objects. Don't be afraid to use your best weapon new technology. If you need to demonstrate how you can add value to marketing, let them play around with new devices, applications and even reports. Chances are you'll catch their attention.
*Get the CEO in your corner. Marketing listens to the CEO, so make sure he or she is onboard with your push for collaboration. Explain why marketing's end runs hamper corporate growth and how you plan to strategically improve IT to meet marketing's demands (i.e., shorten deployment cycles, become less risk-averse, and provide a dedicated team).
See the full story: Why IT and marketing should go out for coffee (or something stronger)
Read more about infrastructure management in Network World's Infrastructure Management section.
