Business Technology is a term that encompasses the strategy, tools and techniques for utilizing technology to support business practices.

Information Technology (IT) is generally the department responsible for setting technology objectives, establishing technology goals, creating technology strategies, selecting vendors, implementing solutions and maintaining hardware and software for the organization.

The person responsible for mapping technology to business functions is referred to as a Chief Technology Officer (CTO). The Chief Information Officer (CIO), who complements the CTO, develops the information management strategy for the organization; though these functions have separate responsibilities, the roles often are filled by the same person. Those who implement the strategies of the CTO and/or CIO generally have Director-level titles (e.g.—Director, Information Technology).

The IT Department’s responsibilities usually are defined and split between infrastructure/systems (systems design, networking, computer hardware support, desktop software maintenance, etc.) and information management (data security, business intelligence, database administration, etc.). Companies with more complex systems or data generally have more members in their IT departments. In smaller or less complex organizations, these separate functions may be filled by the same people or even as secondary duties assigned to people in other roles.

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