5. Operate with excellence. The best-laid plans, a perfect alignment with the business and the best intentions can all be undone through sloppy execution. It should go without saying that the best way to engender confidence and convince people that they can rely on IT is to consistently perform and overdeliver on expectations.

While not exactly a checklist, these five points are what I continually use to check myself and ensure that I'm doing what is in the best interests of my company. They have been guideposts for how the IT department has developed at Pfizer over the past 25 years, and I hope they can be useful to you as well.

Cassese is vice president of global business technology at Pfizer Global Pharmaceuticals. Contact her at vita.cassese@pfizer.com.

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Operating With Excellence