Why IT and internal comms must work together

IT (information technology) and IC (internal communication) can wed their strengths for the good of their constituents—through strategic planning

At least that’s what my boss suggested I take as my theme when I spoke at the 7th annual New York State Higher Education CIO Conference, July 23–25, at the University of Rochester, N.Y., themed: “Charting the course of innovation: Collaboration, communication & innovation.”

“Enough with the geeks versus the soft stuff,” I said. “We hear this everywhere: IT versus IC. The truth is: We need each other. You make it possible, we make it passable. You know the system; we know the audience. Let’s play to our strengths. Let’s plan together. Our readers will be better for our collaboration.”

It was an argument with demonstrable success: Recently, one of Ragan Consulting’s main activities has been to bring IT and IC together to launch or upgrade some effective intranets for a variety of our clients. After all, we have a common goal (to support our organizations), and a common audience.