Marketing executives who think they should make technology decisions without the CIO are gambling that nothing will go wrong, says Forrester. Credit: Thinkstock There’s a reason why marketers keep IT in the dark about marketing tech purchases. The geeks will put the tech vendor through an obscene, jargon-filled laundry list of requirements and testing that will drag the sales cycle for months. Marketers won’t be able to get their hands on the technology until it’s too late — that is, after competitors beat them to the punch. But is there a downside to not involving IT? Forrester thinks so. Here are three things that can and will go wrong with shadow IT. 1. Anyone who has had to rip out the battery of a frozen laptop in order to restart it understands that technology never works as advertised. Enterprise technology is no different. (Have you ever heard of an ERP project that went smoothly?) Unfortunately, marketers tend to accept the flowery vendor pitch as gospel only to feel the pain of technology that has failed to live up to its promises. CIOs, however, know what questions to ask and can temper expectations. Forrester found that “CMOs who go it alone often overlook key integration points to provide a consistent customer experience across all enterprise touchpoints. CMOs who are not involved in technology design, decision-making and management risk creating an infrastructure that does not tightly align to the marketing vision.” 2. CIOs are great at calculating the cost of technology and coming up with a realistic return on investment. It’s not as easy as a marketing technology (or martech) cloud services vendor pitching a simple subscription fee makes it sound. One could get a doctorate degree in Microsoft licensing. New technology has all sorts of follow-on costs, from integration to training to replacement to total cost of ownership. Forrester has a clever acronym for ongoing outlays: MOOSE, or the cost to maintain and operate the organization, systems and equipment. The Forrester report states: “Without the skills and experience needed to keep these costs under control, MOOSE expenses can quickly outweigh the business benefits that new technology investments promise.” 3. When a martech vendor underperforms, many CMOs find themselves locked into a long-term commitment, a soured relationship and no recourse. If the CMO involved the CIO before signing on the dotted line, chances are good that the CIO negotiated contract outs as well as an ironclad service level agreement. The Forrester report states: “When contract renewals come up, a lack of active management may lose the opportunity to improve contract terms and prices simply because technology management falls lower on the CMO’s to-do list.” Bottom line: CMOs who go it alone do so at their own risk. And when it comes to technology, something almost assuredly will go wrong. Related content brandpost Sponsored by SAP What goes well with Viña Concha y Toro wines? Meat, fish, poultry, and SAP Viña Concha y Toro, a wine producer that distributes to more than 140 countries worldwide, paired its operation with the SAP Business Technology Platform to enhance its operation and product. By Tom Caldecott, SAP Contributor Dec 04, 2023 4 mins Digital Transformation brandpost Sponsored by Azul How to maximize ROI by choosing the right Java partner for your organization Choosing the right Java provider is a critical decision that can have a significant impact on your organization’s success. By asking the right questions and considering the total cost of ownership, you can ensure that you choose the best Java p By Scott Sellers Dec 04, 2023 5 mins Application Management brandpost Sponsored by DataStax Ask yourself: How can genAI put your content to work? Generative AI applications can readily be built against the documents, emails, meeting transcripts, and other content that knowledge workers produce as a matter of course. By Bryan Kirschner Dec 04, 2023 5 mins Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence feature The CIO’s new role: Orchestrator-in-chief CIOs have unique insight into everything that happens in a company. Some are using that insight to take on a more strategic role. By Minda Zetlin Dec 04, 2023 12 mins CIO C-Suite Business IT Alignment Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe