Is Your Tech Department Holding Your Business Back?

Here’s How to Break Down Silos and Drive Collaboration

Many businesses feel the strain of skyrocketing IT costs, but the real issue often lies much deeper, a culture of IT and business working in silos.

This siloed mentality leads to tech teams being seen as a cost centre, delivering technology and keeping systems running, but not driving business value.

In fact, a study by McKinsey found that up to 70% of digital transformation projects fail, largely due to a lack of alignment between IT and business objectives (McKinsey 2018). When tech and business teams aren’t aligned, projects become “tech projects” rather than business-driven initiatives, and the results are underwhelming at best, and disastrous at worst.

The Hidden Problem: Entrenched Leadership and a Culture of Safety

One of the biggest obstacles to breaking down these silos isn’t just miscommunication or budget constraints, it’s resistance to change. Entrenched leaders, especially those who have found success with traditional models, often see the old way of doing things as “safe” and “stable.” They may not want to rock the boat, even if that boat is headed toward obsolescence.

Peter Drucker is apocryphally quoted as saying, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast“. When a company’s culture is entrenched in viewing IT as a cost centre, transformational strategies often fail, because leadership is unwilling to shift their mindset. In some cases, truly transforming the culture requires a change in leadership, bringing in fresh perspectives who are willing to embrace innovation, risk, and collaboration.

The Solution: Drive Change Through Small, Targeted Wins

Transforming a culture doesn’t always require sweeping changes or replacing the entire leadership team.

What I do is focus on targeting a specific function within the business, a department or team where collaboration between IT and business can be achieved quickly.

This focused approach allows me to create tangible results in a short timeframe, turning that department into a success story that can be held up as a model for the rest of the organisation.

This method works because change doesn’t need to start with the entire organisation, it can begin with one successful initiative that sparks an emergent movement. When other departments see how much smoother projects run, how aligned the teams are, and how much business value is delivered, they’ll want to replicate that success. It’s a way to win over entrenched leaders and resistant teams without needing to overhaul everything all at once.

4 Key Strategies to Break Down Silos and Drive Collaboration

1. Treat IT as a Strategic Partner, Not a Cost Centre
   To succeed, IT must be involved early in business discussions. When tech is aligned with business goals from the start, you ensure that projects deliver real value rather than just technical solutions. “All too frequently information technology projects fail to address the alignment of the software functionality with the business requirements and business processes.” (Kraft 2008)
2. Foster Cross-Functional Teams
   One of the most effective ways to break down silos is to create cross-functional teams. By bringing IT, business, and even customers together, you ensure everyone is aligned toward a common goal (Kuruppuarachchi 2009; Larson & Gray 2020; Northouse 2021).
3. Promote Accountability and Ownership
   Often, IT teams are focused on technical deliverables rather than business outcomes. Changing this mindset is crucial. By promoting accountability, you ensure that every team member understands how their work impacts the larger business objectives.
4. Focus on Business-Driven Digital Transformation
   Remember, it’s not just about implementing the latest tech. It’s about using technology to improve how the business operates. Digital transformation isn’t about the technology, it’s about using technology to enhance business value, and that requires collaboration across departments (Kane et al. 2015). “Real benefits reside not within the domain of the IT system but in the changes to the organisational activities that the IT system has enabled” (Dhillon, 2005).

Final Thoughts: How to Lead the Change

C-level leaders: if you’re feeling the strain of rising IT costs, don’t assume the problem lies solely with your tech department. Look at your company culture. Are IT and business teams working together, or are they stuck in silos? Silos stifle innovation, waste resources, and slow growth.

Transforming your company starts with transforming your mindset. Break down the silos, foster collaboration, and turn IT into the strategic partner it should be.

As leaders, you have the power to drive this change. But remember—sometimes the old way of doing things feels safe and stable, and that’s exactly why change is hard. But the companies that don’t adapt are the ones that fall behind.

References

Dhillon, G., (2005) Gaining benefits from IS/IT implementation, Interpretations from Case Studies, International Journal of Information Management, 25, 502-515

Kane, G, Palmer, D, Phillips, A, Kiron, D & Buckley, N 2015, FINDINGS FROM THE 2015 DIGITAL BUSINESS GLOBAL EXECUTIVE STUDY AND RESEARCH PROJECT Strategy, not Technology, Drives Digital Transformation Becoming a digitally mature enterprise RESEARCH REPORT In collaboration with.

Kuruppuarachchi, PR 2009, ‘Virtual team concepts in projects: A case study’, Project management journal, vol. 40, no. 2, pp. 19-33

Kraft, T. 2008, Systematic and holistic IT Project Management approach for commercial software with case studies, Lawrence Technological University.

Larson, EW & Gray, CF 2020, Project management: The managerial process, 8^th edn, McGraw-Hill, New York.

McKinsey 2018, The keys to a successful digital transformation | McKinsey, www.mckinsey.com.

Northouse, PG 2021, Leadership: Theory and Practice, International Student Edition (9th ed.), Sage, United States.