From Information Technology To Business Technology: An Interview With George F. Colony

For the past four years, Forrester Research CEO George F. Colony has been preaching the gospel of converting information technologists into businesspeople. The number of converts has been lower than we hoped, but a generational change in IT and business leadership is beginning to force the issue. George calls this concept "moving from information technology to business technology — or IT to BT." At its heart, the message is for IT to measure itself using business metrics that matter to the COO, CEO, and board of directors, instead of assessing its success with a technology yardstick, such as network availability or server uptime. But the IT-to-BT message goes beyond the need for action by CIOs. CEOs and corporate directors, too, can no longer ignore IT issues by relegating them to the CIO. Connie Moore, a research director serving business process professionals, caught up with George while they were both preparing for Forrester's Business Technology Forum 2009. His message is nothing less than a clarion call for IT and business execs to start thinking and acting in a profoundly different way.