For an IT director, befriending the managing partner is the most critical factor for ensuring his or her success in a firm. Yet managing partners are notoriously difficult for anyone to befriend. They usually have too many fish to fry to pay adequate attention to IT, if they are even interested in the first place. They do not understand techno-speak and when they hear ‘technology’ they see red-ink. If they can avoid thinking about, using or buying technology, most will.
What, then, is the key to winning over a managing partner with the goal of ensuring the success of the IT department? Here are my top five strategies:
