What your head of IT might like to do could be very different than what makes best business sense for your organization.

When I became CFO of a pharmaceutical firm, we had a technology issue on our hands.  The company had been started the year before.  Three plants were acquired from two different sellers.  One thing that did not come with the acquisition was a computer system.  Our new company had to put in its own computer system and things had not gone well at all with it during the first year.

 

The proposal recommended by the head of IT was to move to the latest hardware platform in the IBM product line for minicomputer systems.  The price tag for the upgrade was stiff- about $100,000.  At the time, we were strapped for cash and still taking in infusions from our venture capitalists.  We were prepared to invest more in the company for capital expenditures that made sense, but would like to avoid them when we could.

 

I looked at the situation and felt that the real problem was software, not hardware.  New hardware might make us run faster, but still in the wrong direction.  We needed our software to fit the pharmaceutical business and batch processing manufacturing.

 

So why did the head of IT see it differently?  Our hardware was no longer the newest line.  It was a couple years old.  We all can fall in love with newest technology.

 

But here is where it really hit home and I think drove his suggestion.  The new hardware would look much better on his resume.  He could show that he kept up with the latest product line and could be more marketable to his next employer.

 

I put my foot down and squashed the hardware upgrade.  We did spend some money on technology - for an add-on program that converted our computer program to be suited for batch processing manufacturing.  It turned out to be a big success at a fraction of the cost.  Moreover, we got several more years out of the hardware that was suggested was the problem.

 

By the way, we did also make a change and brought in a new head of IT.

 

Know the bias of your IT area.  Make sure the recommendations are really for the company, and not just for their resume.