| | Dec - Jan, 20189leaders to increase the strategic value and perceptions of their work. The reason is simple­infrastructural technologies are desperately needed in today's education sector. Often, even among school administrators and teachers, whose work is becoming increasingly digitized, technology investment drives strategic planning in pedagogy, assessment, and educational outcomes. Yet, despite the increased inclination to invest in technologies, implementation of technology solutions can be ad hoc at the school level and contribute little to, or even detract from, the organizational goals. In this sense, commoditization is intrinsically valuable for IT leaders responsible for implementing enterprise technologies in public education, as well as the schools and districts that benefit. After all, the goal of implementing technology solutions in education is not to gain competitive advantage and capture market share. The aim is to redefine standards, eliminate wasteful practices, improve the delivery of instruction, and reinvest savings into refining instructional models.Day by day, educational stakeholders are beginning to better understand the value of technology to core educational missions, especially in the classroom. However, there remains uncertainty about the role of IT in integrating or connecting new technologies to broader infrastructural planning. However, IT leaders are positioned to redefine the strategic value of their work and, incidentally, oversee increasing investment in technologies critical to organizational success. And they should. The question is whether they will be effective in doing so. As professionals trained in (and comfortable with) project management, systems architecture and the ins and outs of system design, the focus of IT professionals and their teams on technical or service-oriented relationships within the organization can leave them ill-equipped for ensuring stakeholders at every level of the organizations understand their own strategic value in achieving mission-driven success. Worse yet, perceptions of the IT function can complicate efforts to advocate for strategic value. Taking an active role in driving organizational, strategic change rather than supporting existing operations is an uneasy fit for most IT leaders, who would prefer to rely on technical expertise alone as a source of influence. Often, they are simply ill-equipped to champion the value of information technology across functions. There is hope, but it will take investment. Peter Drucker once suggested, "What is needed in effectiveness is competence." While technical skills and expertise matter as much today to the success of IT professionals, so too does the ability to work cross-functionally to anticipate, adapt, collaborate and deliver local solutions while building organizational support for infrastructural change and long-term strategic initiatives. CIOs must acknowledge that hard skills position the organization for success. Soft skills drive organizations to succeed. That is, more than ever before, IT professionals must work to develop and refine the organizational intelligence of their staff, from front-line technicians to upper management. Each needs to leverage organizational intelligence to capitalize on the potential strategic value of its team and its leaders. Day by day, educational stakeholders are beginning to better understand the value of technology to core educational missions
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