There’s a difference between thinking you have what you need and actually having what you need. When it comes to IT, the two are often confused.

For example, during a discussion about effectively backing up systems and data, a CEO asked his IT guy if their company”s systems and data were backed up. The IT guy replied yes, and his boss sat back with a contented expression on his face.

I got concerned. Clearly, this CEO thought his company had the backup capability it needs. But does it?

Does this CEO know how long it’ll take for the company’s email or voice systems to be functional again after they’re brought down by an outage?

Actually, no. All he really knows is that his systems and data get backed up. But he can’t answer the crucial question about restore time because he never asked the right question.

That’s because this CEO asked a product question: Do we have a product that does back up? The question he really needs an answer for is a capability question: How long will it take for our systems to be operational again after an outage?

Talking product instead of capability is a common trap for CEOs during technology discussions. I call it the IT product trap. If all you’re hearing is product descriptions, you need to be talking to someone else.

Don’t get snared.