One of the things that can cause a disconnect between the leaders responsible for paying for technology and those responsible for providing / implementing it is their differing views of the benefits of solving the problem at hand. I’m going to use data lineage programs because that is my most recent experience, but this can apply to almost any business problem or opportunity that technology attempts to solve. With Data Lineage programs this is even more critical because it is not in and of itself a business-critical component – i.e., it is an enabler not a key component of running the business. The key is knowing your audience or bill payor and what grabs their attention.
You are “selling” the effectiveness of the capability you are
proposing or have built to meet a need. To do this, you must understand the motivations of the “buyer”. Pitching impact analysis as the benefit to a Data Governance / Business leader will likely get a response of “Oh that’s nice but how does it help me?” In contrast, if the audience / bill payer is a CIO who has significant downtime / headaches because of data issues caused by impact upstream. Then impact analysis will resonate if you can provide metrics showing the potential savings in lost manpower, opportunity cost, etc. Think of it this way – if a car salesman is working with a farmer replacing his truck – would they try to sell him on the comfort of the latest luxury sedan?
If you are responsible for implementing technical solutions, you must know your audience not only to make sure you solve the problem or take advantage of the opportunity, but also that they see the benefit in terms that will resonate with them when the bill comes.