From time to time, DirectiveGroup team members will share their views on a piece by an industry thought leader. Here, Arlin discusses Jaques Begin’s Technology: Is It Marketing or IT’s Problem?
As elements such as website optimization, data integration, and back-end supply chain management become more important to user experience, and ultimately, a B2B company’s online success, the lines between online marketing and technology support blur. This creates stumbling blocks for businesses unable to successfully integrate their marketing and technology support teams. Indeed, a recent Oracle B2B survey found that more than half of online businesses struggle integrating online marketing with back-end technology support issues. In Technology: Is It Marketing or IT’s Problem?, Jaques Begin makes the strong case that it’s the problem of both departments, and that the best solution is to integrate IT and marketing.
Mr. Begin details the problems that can arise if, for example, marketing alone is given control of a website and content management system without the voice and support of IT. When the time comes for changes in the website and back-end data integration, the marketing department lacks the expertise necessary to perform the task, while the IT department, left out in the cold for so long, lacks the incentive or dedicated resources to do the job. The situation effectively paralyzes advancement.
This is just one example of the problems that can arise when IT and marketing are kept completely separate in online development and administration. And while Mr. Begin’s post centers on in-house marketing and IT, it applies to the vast majority of marketing agencies as well.
Perhaps I am biased, but as a project manager with DirectiveGroup, I’ve experienced the power of integrating marketing and technology development. When our marketing and technology experts work together throughout a project, it creates a 360-degree solution for a business that is far greater than the sum of its parts.
Is technology marketing or IT’s problem? When marketing and technology experts combine their talents, it’s actually a business’s golden opportunity.
Read Jaques Begin’s Technology: Is It Marketing or IT’s Problem?, then contact us to learn how DirectiveGroup can provide you with the 360-degree solution to your marketing and technology development and support needs.
