---
sourceType: article
title: "Gaining Executive Buy-In for Managing the Business of IT"
authors:
  - The Open Group Blog
  - Bodman, Mark
publishedAt: 2017-01-25
url: https://blog.opengroup.org/2017/01/25/it4it-managing-the-business-of-it/
license: third-party
abstract: |
  Open Group blog interview with Mark (then leading IT4IT adoption at HPE).
  Establishes the "contextualize, don't transform" approach to IT4IT adoption,
  the "at least one champion" heuristic, and the executive-pitch pattern
  ("framework for managing IT" or "operating model" — pick based on audience).
  Includes the 300-tools-doing-the-same-job anecdote that Mark reuses across
  later talks. Third-party publication; abstract + locator per
  RAW-SOURCES-LICENSE.md.
---

## Why it's cited

Anchor for the **contextualize, don't transform** stance and the related heuristics (`find at least one champion`, `pitch simple, adjust per audience`). Earliest published source of the executive-buy-in playbook.

## Key claims

- Don't try to flip the organization — map the current operating model onto the standard first ("contextualize").
- Find at least one champion at the executive level; without it, adoption stalls.
- Pitch IT4IT as "a framework for managing IT" or "an operating model" depending on audience.
- Tool sprawl is the canonical ROI story (300 tools doing one job).

## See also

- Stance: `[[stances/contextualize-dont-transform]]`
- Stance: `[[stances/it4it-is-substrate]]`
- Heuristic: `[[heuristics/contextualize-before-transforming]]`
- Heuristic: `[[heuristics/find-at-least-one-champion]]`
