How can the IT-Business Alignment be Improved? Steps to improve IT Business Alignment are Order Taking, Priority Setting and Strategy Setting.

1. How can the IT-Business Alignment be Improved?
How can the IT-Business Alignment be Improved? Steps to improve IT Business
Alignment are Order Taking, Priority Setting and Strategy Setting.
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Year after year, IT survey results inevitably state that one of the top priorities for the
coming year will be to align IT with the business. It is as if alignment is some
unattainable and mysterious process and IT leaders prefer to avoid it out of fear of
failure – or perhaps out of fear of receiving more work as a result. The topic certainly
gets a lot of attention and is often the source of many articles and postings – such as
this one, as well as presentations at IT conferences. After the requisite Google search, I
found 3,300,000 results on the topic!
To make this posting standout and ascend above the rest of the chatter, I will describe
what alignment is and precisely how to build IT for your organization. That’s right, the
first practical guide to achieving IT alignment!

2. IT Business Alignment
According to Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT), an IT
governance framework, strategic alignment focuses on ensuring the linkage of business
and IT plans; on defining, maintaining and validating the IT value proposition; and on
aligning IT operations with enterprise operations. While COBIT provides the definition of
what alignment is all about, I will help explain how you actually get there in the
proverbial “real world.” There are three stages of alignment: Order taking, Priority
setting, and Strategy setting. If you get these right, you will be aligned with your
business and be able to answer a resounding “YES, I HAVE ALIGNMENT” in the next
CIO survey you receive on the topic.
Steps to IT Business Alignment
1. Order Taking
The first step in building alignment is building trust. Trust is earned. Once you have
demonstrated you and your IT organization can be relied upon to deliver value to the
business, you become a trusted supplier of products and services. The more value you
deliver the more credible and respected you become. Once your value to the
organization rises and you are viewed as an enabler of change, you have achieved the
first and irreducible step in IT-business alignment.
2. Priority Setting
After becoming a trusted partner with the business, you can then raise the ante and
seek to become part of the priority setting process. The key here is to get your
lieutenants to have a voice in the priority setting committees. This way, you progress
from “order taking” to “priority setting.”
Most companies create committees for each of their major business processes, such as
sales, customer service, accounting, etc. The composition of these teams consists of
individuals from all around the company rather than monopolizing it with corporate
stakeholders. Assign an IT relationship manager to each of these committees so they
can partake in discussions to help set priority for business processes. IT relationship
managers should have a full vote on decisions made by the committees.
It is important to ensure every project in your portfolio has a measurable business case
and is aligned with company goals. It is essential that the committees develop long-term

3. strategic plans representing the key objectives for each process area. Another important
factor is they are all managed by a singular governance framework, which includes a
document describing the purpose and process of setting priorities in support of
company strategies and goals.
3. Strategy Setting
The final and most coveted stage in IT-business alignment is when IT is viewed as a
venerable part of the business. This is where IT and the business converge and they
are indistinguishable. Be sure that the IT leader in your company sits on the steering
committee responsible for creating vision, goals and strategies for the business. This
committee provides the guidance and parameters for the priority setting committees
discussed earlier since all priorities should be aligned with the company’s vision, goals
and strategies.
Getting a seat at the steering committee table is not always easy as IT still has a
perception problem in many organizations. IT has to get out from underneath the
oppressive rock of being viewed as simply a service provider and become viewed as a
true business partner. This is accomplished by demonstrating success with aligning and
delivering upon the priorities described earlier. Remember, trust is earned – it’s a
privilege, not an entitlement. Once your CEO sees that you can be counted on to
deliver value consistent with the company’s core vision, you will begin to earn your
rightful seat at the table to help create the organizational strategies. In my next post, I
will share how you can communicate and market successes to build a brand for your IT
organization and continue to earn the well deserved trust!