How to Smooth IT-Business Friction

Who loves their IT department? Only one out of 10 have a positive sentiment toward IT support or service, according to a survey by BMC Software. A whopping 63 percent have a negative sentiment, while the rest take a neutral stance.

The vast majority of end-users shake their heads when it comes to IT’s ability to respond and resolve to tech problems in a timely manner. The perceived impact this has on worker productivity is pretty bad, too.

[Related: Can BYOD Bury the Hatchet Between IT and Business?]

“I hate calling the help desk at work,” a survey respondent writes. “Not only are they useless, but the guys also do some excessive breathing into the phone.”

BMC offers a few things both end-users and IT professionals can do to reduce this friction. End-users can have a “take your techie to lunch day,” while IT can deploy a digital ticketing system that drives accountability.

Another potential fix that has been gaining steam lately is the enterprise Genius Bar. Companies such as SAP are taking a page from Apple’s hands-on, consumer-friendly approach to solving tech problems. This trend is in the early stages, yet an enterprise Genius Bar has the potential to change the odd-couple relationship dramatically.

Here is BMC’s infographic about the friction between IT and business.

Tom Kaneshige covers Apple, BYOD and Consumerization of IT for CIO.com. Follow Tom on Twitter @kaneshige. Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter @CIOonline, Facebook, Google + and LinkedIn. Email Tom at tkaneshige@cio.com