• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, August 5, 2022

Many marketers have had this experience: They tell IT what they want for their site. And IT replies, “This is what you’re getting.” 

It's hard to say who's right. The problem is that the sides can’t agree who owns the website, according to Bridge the Divide Between Marketing and IT, a study by Pantheon Systems Inc. 

Of marketers polled, 84% think they should run their site, versus 87% of IT leaders who think they're the leaders. And both sides think these roles are clearly defined.

But views change when they start doing the actual work: 81% of marketers think it is their job to update the site, while only 59% in IT believe it’s theirs.  

One problem is that the sides have different priorities. Marketing is interested in: 

• SEO—38% 
• Better performance analytics—30% 
• Emails and nurture—30%
• Increasing video content—29%
• Thought leadership content and blog—29% 
• Paid advertising—29% 

These are just demands. But IT prefers to focus on:

• Better performance analytics—36% 
• Internet of Things (IoT)—34% 
• Website personalization—29%
• Customer community—26%

Moreover, the two realms fear different obstacles to fulfilling their digital priorities.

For one thing, 41% of marketers fear competing priorities will get in the way. Only 26% of IT agrees. 

And 38% of marketers worry about limited budgets. Again, only 23% of IT thinks that’s a concern. 

But 40% of IT folks say the pandemic will get in the way, compared to 31% of marketers. And, predictably, 40% of IT frets about security, versus 22% in marketing. 

Overall, 42% of people who work in these areas agree that collaborating with others to develop and manage the website is a challenge. Another 35% defines adding new features and functionality as a hurdle, while 35% cite frequent security issues. 

Website agility is another area where they don’t totally agree.  Of IT people polled, 26% say “Market trends are changing too fast for us.” But only 16% of marketers say that.  

But while marketing says it lacks the resources for frequent and/or prompt website updates, only 9% of IT sees that as a problem.  

They are more in agreement on understaffing—24% of each side says it’s an issue.  

Pantheon surveyed 422 individuals, 40% in marketing and 60% in IT. Of those, 56% were C-level/owners, 32% directors and 13% VPs. In addition, 51% were in the U.S., 26% in Canada and 23% in the UK.