What does "IT driven environment" mean?

In the past the business units approached IT and asked them to create solutions for their business processes. Nowadays, very often, because there is so much more business software off the shelf, the business units use standard IT solutions and adapt their processes accordingly. So IT drives the business and not the other way round.

@mattbrowne but what does this mean in reference to said job offer – what do they require of the prospective candidate then when they use the phrase “capability to work in an IT driven environment”?

I am in the IT sector of a professional services organization, and the trend is to stop having the technologists dictate the environment, but rather, have the IT leadership work in harmony with the business managers to ensure that strategic objectives are being met. But, the details of your question state that this company seems to be the opposite. It sounds as if they are seeking stronger IT leadership. My interpretation of “IT-driven environment” is that the platforms for delivery and support of the company’s services/products originate within the IT group.

@picante okay, that still does not answer my question what this means in the context of this job offer. I mean I assume they’re at least using some form of SAP, I’m wondering what they expect the candidate to be able to do within that ”IT driven environment” – mostly because, while I have customer service experience, and I have worked with SAP, I am by no means a proficient PC user, certainly not IT department grade. How do I put this: I’m an advanced PC user, not a techie.

@fremen_warrior – Well, that IT drives the strategy of a company. An IT-driven environment means IT is the main influence where the company is heading.

@mattbrowne so does it mean the customer service administrator (as the position is called) will need to be very IT-minded to succeed there? I mean, what could a paper company do with an IT expert customer service agent?

I’m not sure I can tell you specifically how a “Customer Service Administrator” contributes in an IT-driven environment, but it’s certainly an excellent question to ask the recruiter/HR person at the company.

I would think it means that the administrator should analyze and recommend technology to support the customer service department. If the company describes its environment as “IT-driven,” then I would only assume that anyone in a position of some influence/authority has a responsiblity to continually evalute, monitor, report on and recommend technology to support the strategic objectives of the company. If I may be so bold . . . I’m not sure this “anyone” has to possess specific IT knowledge or experience—they would need to have some business acumen, some strong ideas around process innovation, etc. But that’s just me ;-)

@picante Now that‘s an answer ;-) thank you!

@picante has given you a great answer. To repeat: first off, these are questions for the interview, and they are great questions.

Second, if I had to guess what it means, I’d say they are trying to automate as much of their processes as they can. In customer service, that would include automatic answers for customer service—instead of human answers. It would include computer assisted information retrieval so that humans can answer questions faster. It would require developing databases to help customer service, and developing online systems for answering questions. It would mean helping customers get to answers in a variety of ways, and speeding their way through the system by making it more and more user friendly.

Automation would be expected both improve customer service and reduce costs.

Now depending on where you are in this process, you might be expected to work on projects to design and implement automated solutions, or you might be expected to just get up to speed quickly in using the solutions. I.e., not be afraid to learn, and not be reluctant to use computers. It might just be code for that.

Hard to say without more info.

@wundayatta thank you, that actually explains a lot :-)

Customer service is fully IT driven today. When a customer calls for example, the phone number can be identified and the service agent looks at a computer screen filled with information about the customer. History, profile etc.