Sisters Are Doin’ It For Themselves

By Julian Ratcliffe, Sales Coordinator, Marval Software

Let’s go back to 1985, when shoulder pads were in, and Annie Lennox from the Eurythmics and the great Aretha Franklin belted out the feminist anthem “Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves”.  It was a wake up call to men that women are here, equal, as they said; women could be doctors, lawyers, politicians, and the kitchen was no longer the domain solely for women. For women, it was a demonstration of standing up and expressing how good you are, and what difference you can make to the world.

IT today is no different than what women were in the 1980s. According to a recently published report, 67% of IT professionals felt colleagues did not appreciate the complexity of their work. And why? Simple. Non-IT staff have no idea what IT does. We, the non-techie guys, know nothing about your job.

Now whilst it’s easy to blame non-IT staff for their ignorance, surely we must also look at the IT for acting as non-IT staff would expect them too. Being techy, being stuck in a corner of the office just plays up to the images that non-IT staff have of IT. The truth is that IT professionals forget to communicate what great job they do. In most cases, they don’t share their success stories with the rest of the company. They don’t celebrate their milestones with other departments and don’t advertise their contribution to the organization’s growth and overall success. Simply put, they are not loud enough.

Well, enough is enough. Sisters (and brothers) are doing it for themselves and IT has to take the lead in proclaiming its achievements. You, techies, should shout from the rooftops what you do. Let non-IT and management understand you are behind the business objectives - after all corporate goals are IT’s goals too. Embrace change and show us the way to business transformation.

The actual day-to-day functions and tasks may be different, but the path is the same. IT staff may be techy, true; but they are also human beings who want to be valued, want their achievements acknowledged and appreciated, and want to contribute to make a real difference in their organizations. And the truth is, they actually can. They are enablers. They are the real enablers in any enterprise. Some perceive sales, marketing to be the glamorous roles within an organization. To be the big cogs. Without IT, though, a modern organization would not function.

So celebrate IT, techies. And give us a chance to celebrate with you.