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Computers first came into many companies via the Finance department way back when because they recognized what computers could do as glorified calculators, spre
by blihp 5y ago
Computers first came into many companies via the Finance department way back when because they recognized what computers could do as glorified calculators, spreadsheets and accounting systems.[1] IT departments were often an outgrowth of those early systems. The only 'trick' to dealing with finance people is being able to draw a direct line between a proposal and either increased revenue or decreased costs. For solutions that can do that, they are often your best champion short of having the CEO already on board. For solutions that require a leap of faith/vision/creativity, they're probably not the place to start.
[1] Who do you think the numeric keypad on 'full size' keyboards popularized by the IBM PC were for? Accountants. Granted, word processing was the other early use case... that Finance signed the checks for. IBM understood their customer.
- cratermoon 5y ago> Computers first came into many companies via the Finance department way back when because they recognized what computers could do as glorified calculators, spreadsheets and accounting systems.[1] IT departments were often an outgrowth of those early systems And yet, somehow, IT departments ended up getting classified as cost centers by the finance department.
- blihp 5y agoIf they don't directly contribute to the bottom line, that's how they should be classified from an accounting perspective. There are at least a couple of ways IT departments could avoid that fate: having internal customers pay for their services independent of the cost or directly managing projects that otherwise contribute to the bottom line. It's rare, but it does happen.