Here’s what’s really missing in business—when companies go to initiate the development of a piece of software to to solve a business need, the IT are working on a project based upon the specifications provided by the business customer. The business customer assumes that the IT team understands their business processes and needs. Most often, IT is working to specifications, and the business side makes assumptions about how the software should work. If the project is a custom build, and is done waterfall, the customer provide the specs and three months later gets back something they don’t recognize, and only meets 75% of what they really needed.
A business process owner who understands web architecture is gold. Without them, you end up with applications that have no reporting functionality, or search and editing capabilities.
The other role that has lots of opportunities for growth is certification as a usability specialist. Who wants to spend money to build a site that customers hate using? There’s a science to it.
While it’s not walking around all the time, both roles involve lots of face time with customers, strategic planning, and generally keeping all the balls in the air, and plays to what you’ve invested time and money in.