How Do You Market IT?

A CIO friend of mine recently remarked that “CIOs are like goalies; you don’t know their name until they let one slip past.”  My CIO Paradox counterpart to that sentiment is the following: Your many successes are invisible; your few mistakes are highly visible.

We all know why this is a challenge: no one stands up to applaud when IT works, but they complain bitterly when systems are down. Some CIOs accept this as their reality, and they simply let IT’s performance speak for itself. Others are proactive about “marketing IT,” that is, developing a communications plan designed to let everyone know that IT is delivering value – regardless of how overt or visible that value is.

Where do you stand? Do you actively market IT or let the good work speak for itself? And if you do market IT, what are some tactics that you use?

Please share your experiences and insights using the Comments section below.