07 Step 6: Don’t focus on keeping the blinking lights on in your data center. As we covered earlier, keeping the lights on in IT will keep you employed, but it won’t get you promoted. Seek out challenges, ask for complex projects, and, most impor- tantly, align your projects with the organization's goals. Talk to different business units to find project ideas. HINT: Follow the money. Ask your peers in other divisions to lunch, coffee, or a beer after work. Work with your sales leadership to see how your team can positively impact sales. One way to do this is to replace aging technology with more flexible cloud solutions such as UCaaS. With a UCaaS solution, your sales reps are armed with the latest technology to do their job better and faster—as well as the contact center. Most contact centers use outdat- ed technology from companies like AVAYA. Advances in AI, chat, and work- force management is turning cost buckets into revenue generators. Step 7: Work on getting your name on projects critical to the business. Be proactive, don’t wait for assignments. Do your research and align yourself with critical vendors such as cybersecurity that deliver on industry disruption. Call a TA- Trusted Advisor, someone who helps technology leaders evaluate, implement, and adopt the leading vendors. Review our case studies at the end of this article to find out what your peers have done. HINT: Read https://relayto.com/tim-conti1/state-of-disruption-re- port-ucaas-ccaas-sd-wan-cybersecurity-3zc6m510cd7y8/8y70CQQH1 our State of Disruption Report. This report outlines the top areas of disrup- tion based on interviews with your peers.