We've talked about listening to users, meeting user needs, getting closer to users. We calculate stratospherically high return on investment for our favorite new technologies. We hire consultants to tell us the latest wisdom about what users need. We upsize, downsize, rightsize and capsize according to whatever hot winds are blowing through the executive suite. Maybe we're afraid they actually know how information technology affects the business.
Users know it because they use our systems every day to do real business.
They know what works, what's worth the trouble and what just wastes their time. And support people know it because they have to take abuse from those users every day. They know what's expensive to maintain and what chugs along fine. And they know which problems users will scream about and which issues don't matter. In other words, they've got the information you need to align IS with business, deliver value and just plain stop wasting time and resources on pointless projects and unnecessary efforts.