Steve Brunker, CIO at LSI Industries

Do you view business as a customer or a partner of IT?

“I look at it as much more a partner. A customer implies an arm’s length relationship, or a transactional relationship and that’s not what we are about. We are much more about collaboration and understanding each other’s priorities, requirements and needs. Our communication is much more intimate than what the word customer implies. There is a customer dimension to it however, which is the cost aspect. A part of our responsibility is to attach value, or cost, and make good business decisions about timing, or the level of investment for the return we will get. In this sense, they are a kind of customer of ours. And we do have to do some selling occasionally; if something is expensive, we may have to point out its value. In our partnership we are in constant communication, so there aren’t many surprises and very little selling.”