Should IT be in the Marketing Business?

Most people aren't comfortable with singing their own praises, true.  Marketing and PR are typically outward-facing groups within our organizations, working to attract and retain customers.  So how does a department that typically faces inward, with internal customers, get the word out about all of the great work they are doing for and with the organization?  Is it even necessary?

The last time you did a big upgrade, or migration, how did you let the user community know?  Did you send an email?  Or did you think about it more in terms of a marketing campaign?  Looking back over your last big system rollout, something the IT group worked on for months no doubt, what kind of response did you get from the user community?  Did you struggle with user adoption?  Did you feel that "no news is good news," and were secretly relieved when you got no feedback?  Do people in your organization regard IT as a necessary evil, or a cost center, a support center, or a partner?

Some IT groups have embraced internal marketing whole-heartedly, and those groups would argue that their marketing to the organization is as important as the technology that they implement.  Their user adoption rates are way up, and their help desk calls are way down.  The IT group is a bunch of pretty happy, secure individuals who work as a team with the business.

A lot has been written about marketing IT.  Do you think it might be worth considering in your organization?  While IT has a captive audience, it might be worth thinking in terms of "attracting and retaining customers" even when those customers are inside your own organization.

What do you think?