You need to connect with the CIO or IT director, of course, when you are selling a solution. Also, you’ll need to show the CFO the value to what you are proposing. Getting a new system’s ticket punched by these two executives is standard practice in IT sales. But, there may be another angle. If your client has a risk manager and you don’t know him — find a way to get on his calendar.

We’re still pretty early in the millennium, but if the first decade is any indication, the next thousand years will be the domain of the risk manager. Financial busts have become commonplace, and natural and manmade disasters (including those resulting from terrorism) have caused profound loss. With these threats looming, businesses need to conceive of a broader set of business continuity/disaster recovery solutions than they did in the past — while also gauging the systems and applications needed to help them identify, monitor and remedy financial risk.

Elements of risk management have always crept into the IT planning and sales cycles, but the past decade, punctuated with the fallout from the financial crisis, has yielded the need for a deeper partnership between the IT and risk management functions. Solution providers must become savvy to this emerging relationship, especially if they can help the two groups understand each other’s requirements. For those always seeking “trusted advisor” status, this is what it looks like: advising clients on what happens at the intersection of business and technology.

The role of the risk manager has been elevated, and recent events have led to a wider area of responsibility. Of course, there are IT needs associated with just about every challenge the risk manager faces. IT solution providers should note the opportunity and begin to formulate their plans for accessing their clients’ risk management teams. If you’re in the business of helping your clients solve problems, you need to be in touch with the risk managers — they’re dealing with the problems that could have market-changing implications.

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