Build Resilience: Foster Strategic Partnership Between Leadership and IT

PROVIDED BY MINNESOTA COUNTIES IT LEADERSHIP ASSOCIATION

Critical but often underleveraged partners in a public entity’s strategic planning are the Information Technology (IT) department and its chief information officer (CIO). No longer just a support function, IT is critical for an organization’s continuity, innovation and long-term resilience.

Unfortunately, IT leaders are often brought into planning too late or not at all, leaving leadership and the organization vulnerable to blind spots for risk, infrastructure and opportunity.

Four IT leaders from across Minnesota counties offer insights about how leadership can build a resilient organization where IT is engaged in strategic planning and decision making.

Why is it essential to build a strong, collaborative relationship between leadership and IT?

Adam Larson, Washington County CIO: At the end of the day, relationships and trust are the two biggest currencies in any organization. If those aren’t there, it’s hard to get anything meaningful done. IT helps figure out what solutions will actually work, how they fit into our infrastructure, and how to keep everything secure. When executive leadership and IT work together from the start, it leads to better decisions, fewer surprises and stronger outcomes for the whole organization.

Drew Nelson, Sherburne County IT director and CIO: The onus is on IT to transition from internal service providers to strategic partners, to build trust with executive decision makers, to root our work in our county’s mission, and to recognize this is a continuous process. If we’re not doing the work to bring in our leaders, we’re easy to ignore. And that increases risk quickly.

Matt Anderson, Big Stone County IT director: Trust is built through consistent two-way communication. When leadership shares strategic priorities, IT can identify how technology supports those goals. When IT shares risks openly, leadership can make informed decisions. Cross-department collaboration reinforces this.

When leadership and IT work as partners, we make infrastructure decisions that serve the county for years, not just solve today’s problem. Our compliance work is a good example.

Meeting updated security requirements wasn’t something IT could do alone. It required the Sheriff’s Office to adjust workflows, Administration to approve infrastructure upgrades and the Board to understand why this investment protected our access to critical law enforcement systems. Because leadership included IT in ongoing leadership discussions, we met compliance deadlines without disrupting operations.

What are the business risks of excluding IT from strategic planning?

Larson: Early involvement from IT ensures we’re thinking about infrastructure, security and long-term sustainability from the start, not as an afterthought.

Anderson: When IT learns about a project after decisions are made, we’re often left trying to make incompatible pieces fit together or explaining why a vendor’s promises don’t match reality.

I’ve seen counties where departments select software that can’t integrate with existing systems, or sign contracts without understanding data ownership or security requirements. Early IT involvement prevents these costly surprises and helps avoid “Shadow IT”—when departments adopt tools without coordination, often storing sensitive data in unapproved services or paying for redundant solutions.

Systems that bypass IT review often lack proper security controls, backup procedures or compliance documentation.

Nelson: Cybersecurity is often rightfully brought up here, but I think the often overlooked risk is opportunity cost. IT coming in late tends to increase that gap between the chosen solution and any other options, leading to the inevitable launch of mediocre tech with a pile of debt.

To me, IT’s prime role in the planning and strategy stages is to keep the decision makers focused on the expected and desired outcomes, the business process to enable those outcomes, and the administrative elements, such as implementation and year-over-year budget impact (both cost and staff time).

How can involving IT in strategic planning improve risk management and long-term decision making?

Amy Middendorf, Morrison County IT director: When planning a long road trip, you don’t just pick a destination, you check the weather, plan fuel stops and make sure the car is roadworthy. Involving IT early in strategic planning helps identify risks, align resources and ensure the journey is smooth.

Nelson: In a prior role, my team was called in to vet an expensive software solution. The department considering it had been sold on the bells and whistles and was convinced that implementation would be quick and painless, even though the program it was designed to support was notoriously complex.

IT’s engagement early enough (pre-contract) and my having built strategic relationships with the department allowed the organization to identify the true culprit of the problem: an overly complex and archaic business practice. This operational discovery ensured that the organization didn’t pay licensing and implementation costs to a vendor while the department navigated the identified operational challenges. It also allowed for a dramatically simpler, more efficient and cost-effective tool to be brough onboard to support the program and solve the original problem.

Anderson: IT brings a systems-thinking perspective. We understand how data flows between departments, where the dependencies are and which failures would cascade.

We also bring awareness of the threat landscape. When leadership asks whether we should enable a new feature or integrate with a vendor, IT can assess whether the risk profile makes sense—the difference between “Can we do this?” and “Should we?” and then “What controls do we need?”

Larson: One thing we do at Washington County is a five-year technology plan that includes input and projects from not only the IT Department but departments across the county. Putting everything into a rolling plan highlights the timing of various ongoing or upgrade costs, as well as shows the other departments and commissioners what’s coming from a technology perspective for the whole county.

What steps can leadership take to ensure that IT is a strategic partner?

Middendorf: To make IT a true partner, leadership must invite them into the planning process. In our county, I sit on the strategic committee and maintain regular communication with the county administrator and chief financial officer. We’ve built trust through consistent, proactive engagement, during both smooth rides and rough patches.

I also stay informed by attending board meetings and other leadership discussions. These steps ensure IT is part of the route planning, not just support later.

Anderson: In Big Stone County, IT has a voice at leadership meetings alongside key members from other departments. That visibility helps us align on priorities and understand tradeoffs before they become problems.

• Other steps that have worked:
  Include IT in budget planning early, so we can identify hardware refresh cycles, licensing renewals and compliance deadlines before they become emergencies.
• Require an IT review as part of software selection as a genuine technical and security assessment. This should include how data is stored and returned to the county at the end of the contract. This is something I find most critical.
• Ask IT to translate risks into business terms. The conversation changes when “We need to upgrade the firewall” becomes “If we don’t, deputies can’t run critical operations in the field.”
• Support IT professional development. Training investments benefit the whole county.

How can CIOs strengthen their relationship with executive leadership?

Nelson: Knowing the mission of your county and the priorities of your leadership is key. My county prides itself on delivering effective, efficient services and limiting property tax increases, so I approach IT solutions as an enabler to drive better or more efficient services to our residents within a constrained cost environment. That means having hard conversations about doing less with less, and working collaboratively with leaders throughout the organization to match impact and frugality as much as possible. This also means that when I talk with executive leaders about some unavoidable cost increases that message carries further.

Finding an approach that’s both authentic to who you are and what you bring to your organization and what works for your executives will take time and effort. Put the time in, be honest and open with what you’re doing and why, and assume positive intentions in the folks you’re working with.

Get coffee, lunch, etc. with your peers. An easy way to prevent shadow IT and to keep the limited and needed IT resources in the IT department is ensuring that your peers know that you’re a committed partner in their success and an approachable human. Put the time in that you’re able, and you’ll see inclusion start happening and silos breakdown.

Larson: Truly understand the business of the other departments and the county as a whole. Take the time to read the strategic plans, know and understand the budget, and dig into what your colleagues’ in other departments needs are.

Anderson: Build relationships before you need them. Don’t wait for a crisis to introduce yourself to leadership. Proactively share wins, risks and opportunities. Make IT visible when things are going well, not just when something breaks.

Translate technology into outcomes. For example, instead of “We need multifactor authentication,” say “This prevents the kind of breach that has cost similar-sized counties hundreds of thousands in recovery.” Instead of “We need a new backup system,” say “If this fails, we lose three days of critical county records such as tax payments or recorded documents.”

Advocate for your team. Resilience isn’t just systems, it’s people. Invest in training, cross-training and documentation. Plan for when key people are unavailable. This isn’t true of just IT, think of all county functions when planning primary and backups.

Middendorf: It starts with communication and curiosity. I often ask departments to explain the “why” behind their requests, which helps me understand their goals and challenges. This builds trust and opens the door for IT to offer strategic input.

Talk to your supervisor about attending leadership or strategic planning meetings. Show up to board sessions, read the agendas and stay engaged with what’s happening outside of IT.

If you’re already doing that, take the next step: Align IT goals with the county’s long-term vision. When I first aligned our IT objectives with county goals, it gave our work direction and helped prioritize what mattered most.