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Stacey Renfro, the award-winning CEO of mDesign Home Décor, understands the importance of a strong IT Department to any business's success—especially a digital-first company. Here is Stacey's advice to CIOs:

1 Speak our language, not yours. We don't need to know how you do your work.

2 Know the business. Don't sit behind your computer and expect to make a difference.

3 Communicate. Let your business partners know what you're doing. If you don't share, you may not know all the impacts of a change.

Amazing IT Departments are a competitive advantage for their company. Amazing IT Departments continually exceed expectations by providing reliable and secure systems. They have friendly, prompt, and competent support teams. Amazing IT Departments complete their projects on time, on budget, and with a high degree of customer satisfaction. Amazing IT Departments are agile, working in small iterations and adapting on the fly. Amazing IT Departments write things down and keep good records without being buried by needless paperwork and bureaucracy. Amazing IT Departments provide transparency by communicating status, honestly, and in plain language. Amazing IT Departments are a terrific value, providing cost-effective services while delivering high return-on-investment (ROI) capabilities. Amazing IT Departments openly learn from their mistakes and successes, taking the time to look back on every initiative. Amazing IT Departments provide a fertile ground for innovation. They build flexible platforms, which allow for rapid prototyping. They have a culture that allows for innovation, and they inspire and reward creativity.

If you work in an Amazing IT Department, your work is aligned with the company's goals. You know you are making a difference. You also understand what you need to do to be successful. You have a clearly defined career path based on your personal goals. The work is rewarding because people are supportive and collaborative, and everyone on the team is pulling their weight. You can't imagine working anywhere else, and when the phone rings, you tell the recruiter you have no interest in exploring other opportunities.

Attributes of an Amazing IT Department

 Helps the company accomplish its goals

 Drives and inspires innovation

 Is an enabler, not a blocker

 Delivers cost-effective results

 Provides career growth opportunities for the team

 Is a fun and rewarding place to work

For the most part, these qualities are all attainable, although some require more awareness and commitment than others. In the next chapter, we'll examine some of the common problems that make it more difficult to build and sustain such a team.