Accelerating ecommerce innovation with IT collaboration: 8 best practices

In today's fast-paced digital world, falling behind in ecommerce doesn’t just threaten growth – it puts your business’ survival at risk. Yet, navigating the complexities of modernization can often feel like wading through unfamiliar waters—especially for business leaders outside of IT.

The reality is stark. Approximately 70% of digital transformation projects fail to meet their objectives, and not because of technology alone. Challenges such as poor cross-functional collaboration, cultural resistance, and misalignment between teams like IT and marketing often derail these initiatives (McKinsey).

If your ecommerce modernization project feels like navigating a foreign language, you’re not alone. But here’s the good news–modernization doesn’t have to be a tug-of-war between IT complexity and business objectives. It can—and should—be a seamless collaboration. You don’t need to be a tech guru to lead a successful transformation, you just need the right approach.

To demystify the role of IT in ecommerce modernization, we spoke with Peter Nowak, Software Engineering Manager at Sitecore’s customer Brady Corporation. In this conversation, Peter shared insights on accelerating innovation, aligning IT and business goals, and delivering modern ecommerce experiences. With years of hands-on experience leading ecommerce innovation, Peter Nowak offered practical tips and lessons from Brady Corporation’s transformative journey. (You can watch the full conversation on demand here.)

Based on our learnings from Brady Corporation’s modernization efforts, we put together eight proven best practices for business leaders seeking to partner effectively with IT to drive ecommerce innovation and growth.

Clearly define the business goals and customer outcomes you want to achieve. Work with IT to articulate the "why" behind every project. IT teams perform better when aligned with the business purpose, ensuring technology solutions drive meaningful results like revenue growth and customer satisfaction.

At Brady Corporation, the IT and business teams collaborated in vision sessions, using lean canvases to map customer pain points and opportunities. This approach ensured both sides stayed aligned on creating seamless buying experiences.

Insist on iterative, MVP-based development cycles. Prioritize rapid deployments that allow for customer feedback and quick course corrections. Long, rigid project cycles are a relic of the past. Agile methods let you deliver value in weeks, not months, giving you a competitive edge.

Brady moved away from monolithic, waterfall-style projects by adopting agile frameworks. They now aim to deliver new features or updates to customers every two weeks, significantly reducing time-to-market. This has enabled them to foster better collaboration and trust with the rest of the business as they see their vision come to life sooner.

Invest in modern, flexible platforms (like headless and composable architectures) that reduce maintenance overhead and free IT to focus on delivering features. The less time IT spends fixing outdated systems, the faster you can launch innovations that excite your customers and improve your bottom line.

By migrating to a headless architecture using Sitecore’s OrderCloud platform, Brady eliminated the need for constant upgrades and maintenance, lowering operational costs and freeing up resources to spend more time focused on enhancing customer-facing features.

Collaborate with IT to design ecommerce platforms that prioritize personalized, seamless customer experiences across all touchpoints. Winning in ecommerce means thinking beyond transactions—offer value that keeps your customers coming back.

Brady prioritized self-service capabilities and AI-driven search, allowing business buyers to find what they need faster, improving satisfaction and loyalty. This has increased the onsite search conversion rate (CVR) by 9%, directly enhancing customer satisfaction and sales.

Partner with IT to reduce technical debt while delivering new capabilities. Ensure at least 20% of IT efforts address long-term system health and security. Sustainable growth comes from platforms that can scale securely without slowing down innovation.

Brady dedicates 20% of IT resources to managing technical debt and security. This balance enables them to maintain stable platforms while introducing new features quickly.

Create steering committees to align priorities, eliminate roadblocks, and establish clear accountability for projects. Governance ensures IT and business teams collaborate effectively, reducing miscommunication and accelerating results.

For example, the cross-functional steering committee they formed at Brady Corporation helps prioritize projects and align them with business objectives, ensuring both sides (marketing and IT) stay accountable and focused on high-impact initiatives.

Go beyond traditional IT KPIs. Track revenue growth, customer satisfaction, and ROI from new ecommerce initiatives. When IT sees their work driving business outcomes, they’ll stay motivated and aligned with your vision.

Since implementing these modernization efforts, Brady has achieved a 15–20% year-over-year increase in revenue from its US ecommerce site.

Invest in platforms that support AI-driven personalization and automation. Position your business to take advantage of emerging technologies. Future-proofing ensures your digital commerce strategy remains relevant and adaptive to market trends.

Brady integrated AI-driven search into its platform to enhance personalization. This innovation is paving the way for them to experiment with broader AI applications as they emerge.

As Brady Corporation’s story illustrates, applying these best practices empowers organizations to drive innovation, enhance customer loyalty, and future-proof their ecommerce strategies. When IT and business teams collaborate effectively, the impact goes far beyond smoother processes—it transforms the customer experience and accelerates growth.

Here’s how applying these eight best practices can accelerate your results:

• Faster innovation: Agile frameworks and reduced technical debt enable quicker deployment of customer-facing features.
• Stronger customer loyalty: A focus on seamless, personalized experiences ensures customers keep coming back.
• Operational efficiency: Modern architectures free IT to innovate while reducing maintenance burdens.
• Future-ready growth: Composable platforms and AI-powered tools position your business to adapt to market trends.

Ready for more inspiration?

Brady Corporation’s journey demonstrates the transformative power of IT-business collaboration. Watch our exclusive on-demand interview with Peter Nowak of Brady Corporation for more actional insights and proven strategies to modernize your ecommerce experience today.