I now pronounce you…CIO and CMO.

Here’s an idea from Sam Decker:

"The most important aspect to good relationships is open and frequent communication.  This requires four things:

  1. agreement and accountability;
  2. face-to-face work with no “over the fence” mentality;
  3. open communications and sharing of plans and results; and
  4. investment by each person and those under them to build relationships."

Now, are we describing how to make a marriage work?  Because it sure sounds like it.

Sam is a M20 blogger and recently contributed to some new Forrester research called "Partnering for Success: The CIO – CMO Relationship."  The advice given above is Sam’s perspective on how CMOs and CIOs can build a more effective partnership.

Maybe that’s a good analogy for how close IT and marketing need to be in today’s business world driven by technology change.

Good timing – in my own work on the state of the marketing organization, I found that marketers have their most unproductive relationships with the IT department.  This situation needs to be improved – now.