1) IT business alignment has long been a top issue but definitions have been vague and difficult to measure. This white paper aims to provide a clear and measurable definition.
2) Key aspects of alignment include agreement, cooperation, and coordination between business and IT leaders on priorities, strategies, tactics, and plans given finite resources.
3) The paper defines alignment as the periodic cooperation between business and IT executives to determine priorities and reach agreements on projects and service levels that best support business objectives within set budgets.
The document discusses the relationship between ITIL processes and IT/business alignment. It summarizes previous research showing a positive correlation between alignment and competitive advantage. The author conducted research analyzing the correlation between maturity levels of 10 ITIL processes and 6 dimensions of strategic alignment. Key findings showed several ITIL processes correlated with higher maturity in certain alignment dimensions, such as financial management correlating with business value and governance maturity. However, the research did not find all ITIL processes influence all dimensions of alignment.
Relevant it – it solutions to bridge the gap between business and it it man...IT-Toolkits.org
Much has been said and written about the existence of a so-called “Business-IT divide”. But what is it, what does it mean for my company and even more important, what can I do about it?
Most small and medium business leaders and IT players (be they internal to the company or external service providers) have given up on answering that question. They often feel that it is impossible to gain real business value from IT and that it is just in the domain of large enterprises to attempt tackling that issue. Rome was not built in a day and there are no silver bullets for instantly bridging the business-IT divide and offering truly effective IT solutions. After all, if it was easy, it would already have been done and this entire subject would be moot! The Relevant IT framework helps to map out a journey to assist businesses to tackle the issue one step at a time.
Creating A Necessary Dependence - IT Business Alignmentgmwhitfield
The document discusses IT business alignment and how creating dependence between IT and business leaders is necessary to achieve alignment. It outlines challenges to alignment like focusing only on how IT aligns to business, a lack of tools to measure maturity, and traditional technology-focused solutions. The document proposes an IT2x framework that takes a process-centric approach involving both IT and business to identify projects supporting business goals. This framework aims to eliminate waste, allow more budget for innovation, and provide metrics to improve efficiency and alignment through a shared understanding of goals.
This document discusses aligning IT strategy with business goals. It emphasizes reviewing strategic plans to identify how technology can help achieve goals like becoming a leading home health provider. IT and business strategies should complement each other through collaborative development. Data is collected from staff through surveys and interviews to identify themes like competitiveness. Linking IT performance to business metrics allows evaluating each unit's contributions to overall value. Value-based management and key performance indicators can help consider IT a vital business player.
Given the current world of IT evolving and expanding all around the company, adopting and adapting innovations is not optional. The CIO’s most important role in business effectiveness is in managing this IT change to sustain the value of internal information.
The document discusses business-IT alignment (BITA), including definitions, issues, strategies, and maturity levels. It argues that BITA is not just a technical process but involves social and organizational factors. Two case studies are presented comparing banks with different IT strategies and BITA capabilities. The conclusion is that developing vision and increasing BITA maturity requires focusing on relationships between business and IT through initiatives that develop skills, communication, and shared goals.
Business - IT Alignment Increases Value Of ITDinesh O Bareja
The document discusses business-IT alignment and increasing the value of IT. It argues that alignment requires both vertical (top-down) and horizontal (process) alignment. It provides examples of how misalignment can occur when the goals and roles of business and IT are not clearly defined and understood. With alignment, both business and IT teams understand shared goals and how their roles contribute to achieving them.
Challenges in Business and IT AlignmentVidur Pandit
The document discusses challenges with aligning business and IT. It provides context on the importance of business-IT alignment and defines key concepts. The phases of the business-IT alignment cycle are also outlined, including plan, model, manage and measure. The goal of alignment is to ensure IT supports business strategies and processes efficiently.
The document discusses the relationship between ITIL processes and IT/business alignment. It summarizes previous research showing a positive correlation between alignment and competitive advantage. The author conducted research analyzing the correlation between maturity levels of 10 ITIL processes and 6 dimensions of strategic alignment. Key findings showed several ITIL processes correlated with higher maturity in certain alignment dimensions, such as financial management correlating with business value and governance maturity. However, the research did not find all ITIL processes influence all dimensions of alignment.
Relevant it – it solutions to bridge the gap between business and it it man...IT-Toolkits.org
Much has been said and written about the existence of a so-called “Business-IT divide”. But what is it, what does it mean for my company and even more important, what can I do about it?
Most small and medium business leaders and IT players (be they internal to the company or external service providers) have given up on answering that question. They often feel that it is impossible to gain real business value from IT and that it is just in the domain of large enterprises to attempt tackling that issue. Rome was not built in a day and there are no silver bullets for instantly bridging the business-IT divide and offering truly effective IT solutions. After all, if it was easy, it would already have been done and this entire subject would be moot! The Relevant IT framework helps to map out a journey to assist businesses to tackle the issue one step at a time.
Creating A Necessary Dependence - IT Business Alignmentgmwhitfield
The document discusses IT business alignment and how creating dependence between IT and business leaders is necessary to achieve alignment. It outlines challenges to alignment like focusing only on how IT aligns to business, a lack of tools to measure maturity, and traditional technology-focused solutions. The document proposes an IT2x framework that takes a process-centric approach involving both IT and business to identify projects supporting business goals. This framework aims to eliminate waste, allow more budget for innovation, and provide metrics to improve efficiency and alignment through a shared understanding of goals.
This document discusses aligning IT strategy with business goals. It emphasizes reviewing strategic plans to identify how technology can help achieve goals like becoming a leading home health provider. IT and business strategies should complement each other through collaborative development. Data is collected from staff through surveys and interviews to identify themes like competitiveness. Linking IT performance to business metrics allows evaluating each unit's contributions to overall value. Value-based management and key performance indicators can help consider IT a vital business player.
Given the current world of IT evolving and expanding all around the company, adopting and adapting innovations is not optional. The CIO’s most important role in business effectiveness is in managing this IT change to sustain the value of internal information.
The document discusses business-IT alignment (BITA), including definitions, issues, strategies, and maturity levels. It argues that BITA is not just a technical process but involves social and organizational factors. Two case studies are presented comparing banks with different IT strategies and BITA capabilities. The conclusion is that developing vision and increasing BITA maturity requires focusing on relationships between business and IT through initiatives that develop skills, communication, and shared goals.
Business - IT Alignment Increases Value Of ITDinesh O Bareja
The document discusses business-IT alignment and increasing the value of IT. It argues that alignment requires both vertical (top-down) and horizontal (process) alignment. It provides examples of how misalignment can occur when the goals and roles of business and IT are not clearly defined and understood. With alignment, both business and IT teams understand shared goals and how their roles contribute to achieving them.
Challenges in Business and IT AlignmentVidur Pandit
The document discusses challenges with aligning business and IT. It provides context on the importance of business-IT alignment and defines key concepts. The phases of the business-IT alignment cycle are also outlined, including plan, model, manage and measure. The goal of alignment is to ensure IT supports business strategies and processes efficiently.
Digital Strategy – Closing the Gap between Your Current Digital Reality and w...Formicio
In this Point of View Formicio explores the important difference between digital automation and digital disruption, and the digital organisational capabilities needed to successfully shift an organisation’s trajectory to one that leads to a digital future.
Where does IT value come from? IT is not money. IT is a tool. To understand the value of a tool, what must be shown is how its use makes a difference. The question of "value" is about what difference is important and how that difference is made. If that's not what you're managing, then you're not managing value.
This document provides an overview of IT Financial Management (ITFM). ITFM is a discipline within corporate finance that deals with financially managing technology. The key responsibilities of ITFM include budgeting, accounting, and chargeback for IT costs. ITFM requires understanding both financial and technology concepts. It aims to align IT spending with business goals and maximize shareholder value. The document discusses foundational aspects of ITFM like its relationship to corporate finance and the IT function. It also provides a framework for categorizing different ITFM functions and processes.
The Case for Continual Realignment of the IT FunctionFormicio
The document discusses the need for continual realignment of the IT function. It argues that the context within which IT organizations operate is constantly changing, which can lead to misalignment across three domains: the IT value proposition, operating model, and operating state. The first step to realignment is to assess critical areas of misalignment, identify root causes, prioritize areas for realignment, and define actions to close gaps. Developing alignment as an organizational capability requires conscious effort and accountability from IT leadership.
The document discusses how IT organizations must regularly examine their priorities and resources to ensure they are focused on the "right things." It introduces Moore's quadrant model to help identify "core" processes that enable competitive advantages versus "context" processes that are also important to support. By understanding which activities truly drive business value, IT can optimize investments and consider outsourcing other non-core functions. Regular assessment is needed as business needs and technologies change.
This document discusses the importance of developing organizational capabilities for information systems (IS) organizations. It makes several key points:
1) Traditional approaches focusing on training, processes, and structure are not sufficient for developing capabilities.
2) Organizational capabilities consist of shared mindsets, practices, and competencies that determine how the organization operates and are developed over time.
3) Capabilities define an organization's trajectory and need to be managed as a portfolio to align with strategy and change over time.
4) Capabilities can be developed internally, acquired externally, partnered for, or grown organically depending on urgency and difficulty.
Profitiviti Business Operations Intelligence ArticleSteve Raack
The document discusses a methodology called Business Operations Intelligence that helps companies gain insights into their business operations through data analysis. It involves defining all business processes, including both departmental and enterprise-wide processes. The methodology then ranks processes based on their impact and efficiency to identify opportunities for improvement. Implementing this methodology provides executives with information to make more informed decisions and pursue initiatives that can significantly improve profitability.
This white paper introduces a new tool from KeenCorporation that uses psycho-linguistic analysis and tension detection to continuously monitor employee engagement in real-time without surveys. It argues that employee engagement should be measured like other assets to enable proactive management. The tool analyzes digital communications to generate an Engagement Behavioral Index for departments, visualized through tools like MoodMetrix and Attitude Heatmap. This provides leadership real-time insight into engagement trends to optimize human capital management.
The document discusses how IT needs to transform into a business technology organization (BTO) to better align with business needs. It proposes a reference model called "Open ITSM Solutions" that integrates five domains - COBIT for control objectives, ITIL for IT service management, project management methods for resource management, quality improvement methods, and security standards. This model provides a framework to help IT adopt best practices, integrate service delivery across internal and external providers, and operate as an internal service provider focused on business value.
The Role of IT in Supporting Mergers and AcquisitionsCognizant
Involving IT teams early and often during mergers and acquisitions can help enterprises realize more value from the operational and market synergies that bring businesses together.
This document discusses contract management challenges in South African organizations based on an interview. It finds that legal, procurement, and contracts groups often lack clear strategies and metrics. Leadership is also a major issue, with groups just maintaining the status quo rather than innovating. There are some exceptions, but overall much work remains to be done to improve contract management practices, technology adoption, knowledge management, and risk management. Career opportunities may exist for those who can help transform these functions into more strategic, value-adding roles.
This white paper discusses how human capital (i.e. a company's employees) can serve as a "force multiplier" for other elements of an organization like processes and technology. It argues that people should be considered the most important element of the "people, process, technology" framework that is commonly used. When employees are properly recruited, trained, engaged and supported by sound processes and enabling technology, they can amplify returns on investments in those other areas. The paper provides various examples and research findings that show the financial and performance benefits that companies gain when they make human capital development a top priority.
We’ve worked with Executives and IT leaders for over 30 years, and the single most common complaint we hear from them is their profound frustration with the lack of results and transparency from their never-ending IT investments.
To add further complexity, the demand for digital products and services has made it increasingly difficult for organizations to make ongoing investments and balance the need for innovation with optimization.
The latest data, combined from global enterprises, big consulting and research firms, makes the case that companies need to urgently act to address the digital disruption of their business and their related skills gaps. The data shows that 70% of digital business initiatives are likely to fail to deliver business growth, due to lack of business process and product innovation, as well as poor organizational adaptability.
Poor governance and legacy product management processes to align business and IT initiatives, coupled with insufficient leadership engagement across the organization, are the main reason most companies are wasting money on IT.
This thought paper speaks to these challenges and how optimizing both technology innovation and cross-organizational engagement will accelerate the positive business outcomes that organizations are looking to achieve especially in lieu of increasing digital disruption.
Authors - Alex Adamopoulos and Bob Kantor
Connecting IT and Business Value Through Balanced ScorecardGlen Alleman
As IT searches for its seat at the table, negotiating IT’s
value to the business and the business’s need for the
value IT provides reveals a visible gap in many organizations.
When the CIO acts like a CTO, he or she provides
the technologies needed for the business but does
not engage in a conversation about the strategic needs
for these technologies. IT then continues to provide services
and focus on operational excellence.
The key challenges in managing global information systems and IT infrastructure include determining whether the current IT infrastructure and portfolio of investments are aligned with business strategy and objectives, maintaining the proper combination of technologies, and ensuring information architecture supports core business processes. Managers must evaluate whether the right hardware, software, and human resources can achieve strategic goals across diverse global operations and markets.
Vol 3 The Bottom Line Magazine Total Sourcefeitshans
This document provides an overview of important compliance considerations related to recruiting and hiring new employees. It outlines key federal and state laws employers should be aware of in the hiring process. The document advises reviewing applicable laws, asking appropriate questions in interviews, being careful with criminal and driving records checks, ensuring drug testing policies comply with laws, and following the Fair Credit Reporting Act for background checks. It notes Professional Employer Organizations can help employers navigate recruiting and hiring compliance requirements.
This research essay descriptively details what is meant by Information Technology Strategy and why in increasingly automated business environment of today, successful firms are those that not only have an established IT strategy but also keep updating the same based on changes that may be encountered. Further explained in extreme detail are the reasons that necessitate the need for organizations of today to have an established and implemented IT strategy other than the competition that may be faced from other organizations which have an IT strategy. Also detailed are the values and benefits that may be derived by organizations by having an IT strategy and what qualities and elements of an IT strategy would need to be established in order to derive the maximum amount of value from an IT strategy.
The document summarizes three applications for elementary teachers: Letterpop for creating newsletters, Noteflight for music notation and composition, and Rubistar for designing rubrics. Letterpop allows teachers to create colorful newsletters and communications. Noteflight is a free online music notation program that allows students to compose and share music. Rubistar is a website where teachers can design rubrics by choosing from templates or creating their own.
This is a summary for the fourth chapter of Thomas L.Friedman's book "The World is Flat". In this chapter, he discusses the different impacts that the shift from the Industrial era to the IT is affecting the world. He also gives a good example of outsourcing and intellectual law.
Digital Strategy – Closing the Gap between Your Current Digital Reality and w...Formicio
In this Point of View Formicio explores the important difference between digital automation and digital disruption, and the digital organisational capabilities needed to successfully shift an organisation’s trajectory to one that leads to a digital future.
Where does IT value come from? IT is not money. IT is a tool. To understand the value of a tool, what must be shown is how its use makes a difference. The question of "value" is about what difference is important and how that difference is made. If that's not what you're managing, then you're not managing value.
This document provides an overview of IT Financial Management (ITFM). ITFM is a discipline within corporate finance that deals with financially managing technology. The key responsibilities of ITFM include budgeting, accounting, and chargeback for IT costs. ITFM requires understanding both financial and technology concepts. It aims to align IT spending with business goals and maximize shareholder value. The document discusses foundational aspects of ITFM like its relationship to corporate finance and the IT function. It also provides a framework for categorizing different ITFM functions and processes.
The Case for Continual Realignment of the IT FunctionFormicio
The document discusses the need for continual realignment of the IT function. It argues that the context within which IT organizations operate is constantly changing, which can lead to misalignment across three domains: the IT value proposition, operating model, and operating state. The first step to realignment is to assess critical areas of misalignment, identify root causes, prioritize areas for realignment, and define actions to close gaps. Developing alignment as an organizational capability requires conscious effort and accountability from IT leadership.
The document discusses how IT organizations must regularly examine their priorities and resources to ensure they are focused on the "right things." It introduces Moore's quadrant model to help identify "core" processes that enable competitive advantages versus "context" processes that are also important to support. By understanding which activities truly drive business value, IT can optimize investments and consider outsourcing other non-core functions. Regular assessment is needed as business needs and technologies change.
This document discusses the importance of developing organizational capabilities for information systems (IS) organizations. It makes several key points:
1) Traditional approaches focusing on training, processes, and structure are not sufficient for developing capabilities.
2) Organizational capabilities consist of shared mindsets, practices, and competencies that determine how the organization operates and are developed over time.
3) Capabilities define an organization's trajectory and need to be managed as a portfolio to align with strategy and change over time.
4) Capabilities can be developed internally, acquired externally, partnered for, or grown organically depending on urgency and difficulty.
Profitiviti Business Operations Intelligence ArticleSteve Raack
The document discusses a methodology called Business Operations Intelligence that helps companies gain insights into their business operations through data analysis. It involves defining all business processes, including both departmental and enterprise-wide processes. The methodology then ranks processes based on their impact and efficiency to identify opportunities for improvement. Implementing this methodology provides executives with information to make more informed decisions and pursue initiatives that can significantly improve profitability.
This white paper introduces a new tool from KeenCorporation that uses psycho-linguistic analysis and tension detection to continuously monitor employee engagement in real-time without surveys. It argues that employee engagement should be measured like other assets to enable proactive management. The tool analyzes digital communications to generate an Engagement Behavioral Index for departments, visualized through tools like MoodMetrix and Attitude Heatmap. This provides leadership real-time insight into engagement trends to optimize human capital management.
The document discusses how IT needs to transform into a business technology organization (BTO) to better align with business needs. It proposes a reference model called "Open ITSM Solutions" that integrates five domains - COBIT for control objectives, ITIL for IT service management, project management methods for resource management, quality improvement methods, and security standards. This model provides a framework to help IT adopt best practices, integrate service delivery across internal and external providers, and operate as an internal service provider focused on business value.
The Role of IT in Supporting Mergers and AcquisitionsCognizant
Involving IT teams early and often during mergers and acquisitions can help enterprises realize more value from the operational and market synergies that bring businesses together.
This document discusses contract management challenges in South African organizations based on an interview. It finds that legal, procurement, and contracts groups often lack clear strategies and metrics. Leadership is also a major issue, with groups just maintaining the status quo rather than innovating. There are some exceptions, but overall much work remains to be done to improve contract management practices, technology adoption, knowledge management, and risk management. Career opportunities may exist for those who can help transform these functions into more strategic, value-adding roles.
This white paper discusses how human capital (i.e. a company's employees) can serve as a "force multiplier" for other elements of an organization like processes and technology. It argues that people should be considered the most important element of the "people, process, technology" framework that is commonly used. When employees are properly recruited, trained, engaged and supported by sound processes and enabling technology, they can amplify returns on investments in those other areas. The paper provides various examples and research findings that show the financial and performance benefits that companies gain when they make human capital development a top priority.
We’ve worked with Executives and IT leaders for over 30 years, and the single most common complaint we hear from them is their profound frustration with the lack of results and transparency from their never-ending IT investments.
To add further complexity, the demand for digital products and services has made it increasingly difficult for organizations to make ongoing investments and balance the need for innovation with optimization.
The latest data, combined from global enterprises, big consulting and research firms, makes the case that companies need to urgently act to address the digital disruption of their business and their related skills gaps. The data shows that 70% of digital business initiatives are likely to fail to deliver business growth, due to lack of business process and product innovation, as well as poor organizational adaptability.
Poor governance and legacy product management processes to align business and IT initiatives, coupled with insufficient leadership engagement across the organization, are the main reason most companies are wasting money on IT.
This thought paper speaks to these challenges and how optimizing both technology innovation and cross-organizational engagement will accelerate the positive business outcomes that organizations are looking to achieve especially in lieu of increasing digital disruption.
Authors - Alex Adamopoulos and Bob Kantor
Connecting IT and Business Value Through Balanced ScorecardGlen Alleman
As IT searches for its seat at the table, negotiating IT’s
value to the business and the business’s need for the
value IT provides reveals a visible gap in many organizations.
When the CIO acts like a CTO, he or she provides
the technologies needed for the business but does
not engage in a conversation about the strategic needs
for these technologies. IT then continues to provide services
and focus on operational excellence.
The key challenges in managing global information systems and IT infrastructure include determining whether the current IT infrastructure and portfolio of investments are aligned with business strategy and objectives, maintaining the proper combination of technologies, and ensuring information architecture supports core business processes. Managers must evaluate whether the right hardware, software, and human resources can achieve strategic goals across diverse global operations and markets.
Vol 3 The Bottom Line Magazine Total Sourcefeitshans
This document provides an overview of important compliance considerations related to recruiting and hiring new employees. It outlines key federal and state laws employers should be aware of in the hiring process. The document advises reviewing applicable laws, asking appropriate questions in interviews, being careful with criminal and driving records checks, ensuring drug testing policies comply with laws, and following the Fair Credit Reporting Act for background checks. It notes Professional Employer Organizations can help employers navigate recruiting and hiring compliance requirements.
This research essay descriptively details what is meant by Information Technology Strategy and why in increasingly automated business environment of today, successful firms are those that not only have an established IT strategy but also keep updating the same based on changes that may be encountered. Further explained in extreme detail are the reasons that necessitate the need for organizations of today to have an established and implemented IT strategy other than the competition that may be faced from other organizations which have an IT strategy. Also detailed are the values and benefits that may be derived by organizations by having an IT strategy and what qualities and elements of an IT strategy would need to be established in order to derive the maximum amount of value from an IT strategy.
The document summarizes three applications for elementary teachers: Letterpop for creating newsletters, Noteflight for music notation and composition, and Rubistar for designing rubrics. Letterpop allows teachers to create colorful newsletters and communications. Noteflight is a free online music notation program that allows students to compose and share music. Rubistar is a website where teachers can design rubrics by choosing from templates or creating their own.
This is a summary for the fourth chapter of Thomas L.Friedman's book "The World is Flat". In this chapter, he discusses the different impacts that the shift from the Industrial era to the IT is affecting the world. He also gives a good example of outsourcing and intellectual law.
1) Many businesses are not properly leveraging IT controls and compliance, which could help mitigate financial risks from data loss or theft. Only 1 in 10 firms have strong IT controls in place.
2) Those with strong controls experience fewer disruptions to their business and data losses than companies with weak controls. Companies with weak controls can face declines in revenue, customers, and stock price due to data breaches.
3) Implementing proper IT controls is important for protecting a company's reputation and limiting liability. Controls can help prevent data theft and the high costs associated with it.
The document discusses managing security risks when information technology functions are outsourced to third parties. It covers planning for outsourcing contracts, including assessing security risks, requirements for vendors, and contract terms. It also discusses selecting vendors, administering contracts over time through reviews and audits, and ensuring proper termination of contracts and systems access. Managing security is key throughout the outsourcing lifecycle from initial planning through contract completion.
The document describes the system architecture of ASSIST4 Warehouse Management. It includes Styrolution, AEB, KSD, and Customs systems that communicate with Classification, Compliance, Origin & Preferences, and AES engines. These engines integrate with SAP and connect to various national customs systems for import, export, and other functions.
Wireless Wisdom, Inc. and its division Absolutely Wireless, Inc. were established in 1996 and have grown from a small authorized dealer with $72k in annual sales to a premier provider of wireless products and services nationally through strategic partnerships, new locations, and a focus on exceptional customer service despite economic challenges and a changing industry landscape. The companies are now led by Tina Holden and seek to educate customers on technology options, be available for ongoing support, and meet customers' growing communications needs through their various brands and initiatives.
The document discusses how to better integrate business and information technology. It argues that IT needs to be integrated into the core business strategy and operations, not treated as an afterthought. The author provides examples from their experience of embedding senior IT leaders directly into business units so they understand the business goals and can help identify technology solutions. The document then outlines four steps to achieve better integration: 1) Open communication between IT and operational groups, 2) Understanding business needs, 3) Validating IT plans with senior management, and 4) Conducting periodic surveys for feedback. The overall message is that IT must think, act and function like business executives to truly support business objectives.
If the CIO is to be valued as a strategic actor, how can he bring.docxTatianaMajor22
If the CIO is to be valued as a strategic actor, how can he bring to the table the ethos of alignment, bound to the demands of process strategic planning to move IT to the forefront of the organization's future? Is there a lack of information on strategic planning? Nope. I think the process of planning is poorly understood, and rarely endorsed. The reasons are simple enough. Planning requires a commitment of resources (time, talent, money); it requires insight; it requires a total immersion in the corporate culture. While organizations do plan, planning is invariably attached to the budget process. It is typically here that the CIO lays out his/her vision for the coming year Now a few years ago authors began writing on the value of aligning IT purpose to organizational purpose. They wrote at a time when enterprise architectural planning was fairly new, and enterprise resource management was on the lips of every executive. My view is that alignment is a natural process driven by the availability of the tools to accomplish it. Twenty years ago making sense of IT was more about processing power, and database management. We are in a new age of IT, and it is the computer that is the network, not the network as an independent self-contained exchange of information. If you will spend some time reviewing the basic materials I provided on strategic planning and alignment, we can begin our discussions for the course. Again, here is the problem I would like for us to tackle: If the CIO is to be valued as a strategic actor, how can he bring to the table the ethos of alignment, bound to the demands of process strategic planning to move IT to the forefront of the organization's future? Most of the articles I bundled together for this week are replete with tables and charts. These can be a heavy read. Your approach should be to review these articles for the "big ideas" or lessons that are take away. I think these studies are significant enough that we will conclude our first week with an understanding of the roles between executive leaders, and how they see Information Technology playing a role in shaping a business strategy.
Read the articles to answer the question. Please No Plagerism or verbatim but you are allowed to quote from the article.
Achieving and Sustaining
Business-IT Alignment
Jerry Luftman
Tom Brier
I
n recent decades, billions of dollars have been invested in intormation tech-
nology (IT). A key concern of business executives is alignment—applying IT
in an appropriate and timely way and in harmony with business strategies,
goals, and needs. This issue addresses both how IT is aligned with the busi-
ness and how the business should be aligned with IT Frustratingly, organizations
seem to find it difficult or impossible to harness the power of information tech-
nology for their own long-term benefit, even though there is worldwide evi-
dence that IT has the power to transform whole industries and markets.' How
can companies.
The document discusses several challenges for technology in business in 2013, including:
1) Aligning technology seamlessly with exclusive business objectives.
2) Synthesizing large amounts of transactional data and providing meaningful analytics.
3) Developing delivery models for IT services, including gaining trust for cloud-based solutions.
Technology alignment is an ongoing process that must accommodate rapid business changes through a flexible framework. The role of the CIO is evolving from an IT support function to strategic partner in formulating and executing business strategy.
The document proposes a Business Service Management (BSM) maturity model to help align IT services with business strategies. It presents a 5-level pyramid model of BSM maturity, with each level building on the previous one. Level 1 focuses on business fundamentals and cost containment, while Level 5 represents market leadership through innovative technology. The model is intended to provide guidelines for organizations to assess their current BSM maturity level, identify gaps, and develop a path for improving alignment between IT and business goals over time.
How do you align business with IT? Many companies don\'t do this - to their detriment. IT that is focused on solving business solutions is the only effective IT.
38C h a p t e r4 Building a Strong Relationship with t.docxBHANU281672
38
C h a p t e r
4 Building a Strong Relationship with the Business1
1 This chapter is based on the authors’ previously published article, Smith, H. A., and J. D. McKeen. “Building
a Strong Relationship with the Business.” Communications of the Association for Information Systems 26, Article
19 (April 2010): 429–40. Reproduced by permission of the Association for Information Systems.
There is no doubt that a strong business–IT relationship is now critical to the success of an organization’s successful and effective use of IT (Bassellier and Benbasat 2004; Kitzis and Gomolski 2006). With the rapid evolution of IT in busi-
ness, simply “keeping the lights on” and delivering systems on time and on budget are
not enough. Today, IT’s ability to deliver value is closely linked with the nature of its
relationship with a large number of business stakeholders. Recognizing this, many IT
functions have tried to become “partners” with the business at the most senior strategic
levels, but with limited success (Gordon and Gordon 2002). It has become clear from
these initiatives that business–IT interactions are more complex and highly resistant
to change than first assumed and that building a strong relationship with business is a
major challenge for most IT leaders.
We know that the nature and quality of the business–IT relationship are affected
by many factors such as the subfunction of IT involved (e.g., operations, application
development), the business unit involved, the management levels involved, changing
expectations, and general perceptions of IT (McKeen and Smith 2008). However,
research suggests that IT managers are still somewhat naïve about how relationships
work in business and that interpersonal interaction and clear communication are often
missing between the groups. We have also learned that perceptions of the value IT
delivers are correlated with how well IT is perceived to understand and identify with
the business (Anonymous 2002; Gold 2006; Tallon et al. 2000).
Nevertheless, we still know very little about the elements that contribute to a
“strong relationship” between IT and business, nor even about how to characterize
such a relationship (Day 2007). This chapter first looks at the nature of the business–IT
relationship and how an effective relationship could be characterized. Then it examines
in turn each of the four foundational elements of a strong, positive relationship, making
suggestions for how IT managers could strengthen them.
Chapter 4 • Building a Strong Relationship with the Business 39
The NaTure of The BusiNess–iT relaTioNship
“The IT-business relationship is a set of beliefs that one party holds about the other and
how these beliefs are formed from the interactions of . . . individuals as they engage in
tasks associated with an IT service” (Day 2007). The business–IT relationship in orga-
nizations tends to span the full range of relationship possibilities. Some members of
the fo.
The document discusses 8 essential methods for effective IT leadership. The first method is to create effective teams by attracting and cultivating talent through recruitment agencies, getting involved in the hiring process, crafting compelling job postings, and hiring interns. The second method is to design an IT strategy by identifying areas for improvement, evaluating current strategies, developing a roadmap aligned with business goals, and budgeting and setting timelines. The third method discusses building and managing relationships with employees, business partners, and customers to deliver results.
The document discusses 8 essential leadership methods for effective IT leadership. The first method is to create effective teams by attracting and retaining talent, considering challenges like competition for skills and skills shortages. The second method is to design an IT strategy that aligns with business goals and considers technical skills and constraints. The third method is to build and manage relationships by networking within and outside the organization. The fourth method is to manage IT risks through continuous monitoring and assessment of risks like security threats. The fifth method is to communicate effectively with different audiences by understanding their needs and using clear language.
This 3 sentence summary provides the key points from the IBM Global CIO Study executive summary document:
The study interviewed over 2,500 CIOs worldwide to understand how CIOs can make the biggest impact as a member of the senior executive team. Successful CIOs were found to blend the roles of an insightful visionary and able pragmatist, savvy value creator and relentless cost cutter, and collaborative business leader and inspiring IT manager. By balancing these six roles, CIOs can achieve the goals of making innovation real, raising the ROI of IT, and expanding their business impact.
During the 1990s, companies spent large amounts on IT investments without clear business cases. This document discusses managing IT as a business to ensure investments are aligned with business goals and deliver value. It argues the CIO must treat IT as a mainstream business, connect IT to corporate strategy, and focus on customer service, quality and performance. The CIO should also demand business units justify IT needs and pay for resources themselves. By integrating IT strategy with overall business strategy and focusing on profitability drivers, companies can better manage IT as a business.
This document outlines a process for aligning business and IT strategies through capability mapping, governance, and agile delivery. It involves mapping business capabilities needed to achieve strategic goals, defining supporting technical architectures, developing solutions, creating business cases, and governing projects. Approved projects are then delivered using agile methodologies to rapidly achieve business value through minimum viable products and iterative development. Regular measurement of value allows demonstrating returns to the governance body. The process aims to ensure IT strategies and investments support overarching business strategies.
This document provides definitions and context around key terms related to measuring success in IT service management. It defines critical success factors as key areas that must go well for a project or process to succeed. It lists six common critical success factors for an ITSM implementation project. It defines metrics as direct numerical measures of business data, and key performance indicators as values measured to assess if goals are being achieved. The document will explore these terms further in future parts by providing examples from an ITSM implementation project and operational environment.
1 response for each post in APA format with referencesPost 1I.docxjeremylockett77
The document discusses improving communication between IT and business departments within an organization. It provides several recommendations for how to strengthen this communication, including making communication visible, developing communication skills both formally and informally, using human resources to develop new roles and skills, and increasing the frequency of communication. Regular communication at all levels between IT and business is emphasized as important for addressing issues and improving relationships.
ISACA IT GRC Conference 2008 Creating Business Value by means of Stakeholder ...Arno Kapteyn
In marketing a saying goes: “The Customer does not exist” this recognizes that each customer is unique in its desires and requirements and there is no such thing as a one size fits all. In analogy this session sets out with the statement that “The business does not exist”. An enterprise is a unique combination of central or de-central, task, geography, goal and/ or skills oriented divisions and departments. All these stakeholders have individual needs and requirements that might be met or supported by the services offered by the Enterprise IT Domain. To offer a one size fits all solution (per service) in response to this multitude of desires is to reuse the line of though from Henry Ford: “They can have any color they like as long as it is black”. This approach was very useful to help build the company into the global enterprise it is today. Yet at some point in the growth of the organization it was abandoned in favor of more variation of choice as a trip to the ford dealer will tell you. Even a standard product like a McDonalds hamburger varies to suite the (taste) requirements in different parts of the world.
How can the IT Domain of an enterprise growing in complexity, size, geographical presence etc. strategically prepare to deal with this complexity and ensure it will (keep) deliver(ing) maximum value in the eyes of the individual stakeholder (groups)?
Below is the information on Discussion question 2Reference McKee.docxtangyechloe
Below is the information on Discussion question 2
Reference McKeen, J. D., & Smith, H. A. (2015). IT strategy: Issues and practices (3rd ed.). Pearson
In many ways the qualities that make a good IT leader resemble those that make any other good leader. These can be divided into two general categories: 1. Personal mastery. These qualities embody the collection of behaviors that determine how an individual approaches different work and personal situations. They include a variety of “soft” skills, such as self-knowledge, awareness of individual approaches to work, and other personality traits. Most IT organizations include some form of personal mastery assessment and development as part of their management training programs. Understanding how one relates to others, how they respond to you, and how to adapt personal behaviors appropriately to different situations is a fundamental part of good leadership. One company’s internal leadership document states, “Leaders must exercise self-awareness, monitor their impact on others, be receptive to feedback, and adjust to that feedback.” “The higher up you get in IT, the greater the need for soft skills,” claimed one member. Another noted the positive impact of this type of skills development: “It’s quite evident who has been on our management development program by their behaviors.” An increasingly important component of this quality for IT staff is personal integrity— that is, the willingness to do what you say you are going to do—both within IT and with external parties such as users and vendors. 2. Leadership skill mastery. These qualities include the general leadership skills expected of all leaders in organizations today, such as motivation, team building, collaboration, communication, risk assessment, problem solving, coaching, and mentoring. These are skills that can be both taught and modeled by current leaders and are a necessary, but not sufficient, component of good IT leadership (Bouley 2006). However, good IT leaders are required to have a further set of skills that could be collectively called “strategic vision” if they are going to provide the direction and deliver the impact that organizations are expecting from IT. Because this is a “soft skill,” there is no firm definition of this quality, but several components that help to develop this quality at all levels in IT can be identified, including the following:
• Business understanding. It should go without saying that for an IT leader to have strategic vision, he or she should have a solid understanding of the organization’s current operations and future direction. This is well accepted in IT today, although few IT organizations have formal programs to develop this understanding. Most IT staff are expected to pick it up as they go along, mostly at the functional business process level. This may be adequate at junior levels, but being able to apply strategic vision to a task also involves a much broader understanding of the larger competi.
This document discusses the evolving relationship between business strategy and IT strategy. It notes that executives now recognize IT's strategic potential and its ability to impact top-line growth. As a result, IT is increasingly involved in strategic discussions and helping shape business strategy through new technologies. However, effective strategy development still requires addressing challenges such as aligning business and IT strategies and ensuring the right people are involved from both business and IT. The document also outlines four critical success factors for developing IT strategy: revisiting the business model, having strategic themes, involving the right people, and working in partnership between business and IT.
15C h a p t e r2 Developing IT Strategy for Business V.docxnovabroom
15
C h a p t e r
2 Developing IT Strategy for Business Value1
1 This chapter is based on the authors’ previously published article, Smith, H. A., J. D. McKeen, and S. Singh.
“Developing IT Strategy for Business Value.” Journal of Information Technology Management XVIII, no. 1 (June
2007): 49–58. Reproduced by permission of the Association of Management.
Suddenly, it seems, executives are “getting” the strategic potential of IT. Instead of being relegated to the back rooms of the enterprise, IT is now being invited to the boardrooms and is being expected to play a leading role in delivering top-
line value and business transformation (Korsten 2011; Luftman and Zadeh 2011; Peslak
2012). Thus, it can no longer be assumed that business strategy will naturally drive IT
strategy, as has traditionally been the case. Instead, different approaches to strategy
development are now possible and sometimes desirable. For example, the capabilities
of new technologies could shape the strategic direction of a firm (e.g., mobile, social
media, big data). IT could enable new competencies that would then make new busi-
ness strategies possible (e.g., location-based advertising). New options for governance
using IT could also change how a company works with other firms (think Wal-Mart
or Netflix). Today new technologies coevolve with new business strategies and new
behaviors and structures (see Figure 2.1). However, whichever way it is developed, if
IT is to deliver business value, IT strategy must always be closely linked with sound
business strategy.
Ideally, therefore, business and IT strategies should complement and support each
other relative to the business environment. Strategy development should be a two-way
process between the business and IT. Yet unfortunately, poor alignment between them
remains a perennial problem (Frohman 1982; Luftman and Zadeh 2011; McKeen and
Smith 1996; Rivard et al. 2004). Research has already identified many organizational
challenges to effective strategic alignment. For example, if their strategy-development
processes are not compatible (e.g., if they take place at different times or involve differ-
ent levels of the business), it is unlikely that the business and IT will be working toward
the same goals at the same time (Frohman 1982). Aligning with individual business
units can lead to initiatives that suboptimize the effectiveness of corporate strategies
(McKeen and Smith 1996). Strategy implementation must also be carefully aligned to
16 Section I • Delivering Value with IT
ensure the integration of business and IT efforts (Smith and McKeen 2010). Finally, com-
panies often try to address too many priorities, leading to an inadequate focus on key
strategic goals (Weiss and Thorogood 2011).
However, strategic alignment is only one problem facing IT managers when they
develop IT strategy. With IT becoming so much more central to the development and
delivery of business strategy, much mor.
This document introduces Technology Business Management (TBM) as a decision-making framework that relies on financial and operational data, service delivery processes, and business partner relationships. TBM aims to optimize costs so more can be invested in growth and agility. The chapter introduces the components of the TBM framework and includes a diagnostic survey to assess the reader's organization. Signing in with LinkedIn provides access to compare results with other organizations in the TBM Index.
Workfront - 9 Experts on How to Align IT's Work to Company StrategyMighty Guides, Inc.
IT teams often struggle to align with business priorities due to over-reliance on technical subject matter experts and lack of business skills. IT leaders must transition teams to focus on being business-minded problem solvers rather than technical experts. This involves adopting a service-aligned model and ensuring the right people fill product management roles to interface with the business. By changing the skills and mindset of those in IT, leaders can better position teams to strategically support organizational goals.
Workfront - 9 Experts on How to Align IT's Work to Company Strategy
White Paper ITBA Part I Palomino
1. White Paper:
IT Business Alignment – “Search for the Holy Grail?”, Part I
By Ross W. Holman
Make Excellence . . . Much has been written, but much less resolved, about this perennial top
. . . a Habit. five IT issue reported by Gartner, Meta, Forrester, CSC, CIO Magazine,
academia and others. By the way, IT business alignment (ITBA) is not
just an IT issue, it is a business issue. Alignment is needed across all
7 Habits of IT Excellence organizations in a business. Every business wants to be successful as
defined internally, and by its competitors, the market, its owners and its
Build Trust
customers. Highly successful companies can trace their success to being -
Create a Proactive
first, very effective, and second, adequately efficient - “doing the right
Culture
things - right”. The better the alignment between organizations, the more
Understand the
effective their execution, and successful their results. While the
Company‟s Business
importance of alignment is undeniable, adequate attainment has been
Align with the
elusive.
Company‟s Goals and
Objectives
So why hasn‟t this issue been resolved or relegated below the top twenty
Lead People – Manage
Things CIO issues? Four reasons:
Adapt to Change
1. ITBA has not been well defined in many organizations, therefore,
Embrace a Passion for
Learning & Improvement expectations are not set correctly and results are difficult to
measure.
2. ITBA is a dynamic, people process that must resolve conflicts and
adapt to priority changes. Often the processes have not been
developed to resolve these issues in a consistent and repeatable
manner.
3. Many times the company‟s business units and departments are not
well aligned, so ITBA is difficult or impossible. Rather ITBA relies
on the “squeaky wheel concept‟ and/or politics.
4. While ITBA is a perennial top five CIO issue, according to a 2006
Accenture survey of CEO‟s, ITBA was not a top ten issue for CEOs.
So is IT‟s effort in this area the real issue?
We will explore ITBA in a series of white papers:
Part I: What is IT business alignment, what it is not?
Part II: How can organizations establish IT business alignment.
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Published: Sept 2009
2009 Palomino Consulting Group, LLC
2. Part I – What is IT Business Alignment, What It is NOT
We start the „Search for the Holy Grail‟ – ITBA with other organizations.
One of the historical, critical issues in improving or achieving ITBA within a business is the lack of a specific,
measureable, achievable, and realistic definition. In general the definition of alignment has been ignored,
vague, too general and/or contradictory. For example:
Luftman et al in "Transforming the Enterprise: The alignment of business and information technology
strategies," IBM Systems Journal vol.32, nr.1, 1993, define alignment as: “… extent which IS
strategy supports, and is supported by, the business strategy”.
Reich and Benbasat in "Factors that influence the social dimension of alignment between business and
information technology objectives ”, Working Paper, 1998 defines it as "… degree that IT’s
mission, objectives and plans support and are supported by the business’s mission,
objectives and plans”.
Henderson and Thomas in "Aligning Business and Information Technology Domains: Strategic Planning
in Hospitals," Hospital and Health Services Administration” vol.37, nr.1, 1992, says “… alignment is
more than linking IT and business strategy (…) fitting technology, structures, processes,
and skills to match this integration is also critical for success”.
Smaczny in “Is an Alignment between Business and IT the Appropriate Paradigm to Manage IT in
Today‟s Organization?”, Management Decision, 39 (10), 2001, says “… IT alignment is more like
fusion… IT strategy and business strategy are intertwined and should be developed at the
same time…”
These definitions are lacking and primarily address the “what components need alignment” of a good
definition. They are very general in nature, difficult to measure and in some cases contradict each other.
None take into account how dynamic “changes” and “priorities” in strategy, objectives or plans can be.
Nor do they address “conflicts” and “competition” in and between people, objectives, plans and priorities.
And finally they do not address finite, limited IT and business resources.
IT business alignment is NOT:
a real two-way street. Of course IT requires support from and collaboration with other business units,
departments, etc, but IT will primarily align with the business‟s mission, strategies, plans, etc., not
vice versa. This applies to all business units and departments.
the “fitting” of technology, structures, processes, etc. This refers to how IT delivers its solutions and
services - how it executes. IT can be poorly aligned to other organizations and have excellent delivery
of its projects and services - “do the wrong things – right”. And, of course, the opposite is true.
ever perfect because of the business‟s need to react and change to industry, market and competitive
issues. Nor is it perfect because of limited IT and business resources. ITBA happens in degrees rather
than being a state of alignment or not.
So what is ITBA? Let‟s start by looking at the definition of “align”:
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2009 Palomino Consulting Group, LLC
3. align (ə līn′)
transitive verb
1. to bring into a straight line; adjust by line
2. to bring parts or components into proper coordination
3. to bring into agreement, close cooperation, etc.
The first concept evident is components covered by most definitions. Alignment between components,
however, is not the most important concept. Three key concepts are evident in this definition – agreement,
cooperation, and coordination. These are things that people do. It is imperative that business and IT
executives and leaders own ITBA.
Let‟s summarize. A good definition needs:
1. to be specific, measurable, achievable, and realistic
2. to answer “what” components are aligned
3. to answer “who” must reach and own an alignment
4. to recognize the agreement is based on current priorities, strategy, tactics and plans that can change
5. to recognize limitations in resources
6. not to include IT execution criteria
With these in mind the definition could be:
IT business alignment (ī t - biz′ nəs - ə līn′ ment)
nouns
1. the cooperation and coordination between executives/leaders in business units, departments, etc, and
executives/leaders in IT Solutions Development organizations to periodically determine/resolve business
priorities and reach agreements as to which mix of projects to undertake that best supports business
strategies/model, tactics and annual plans/objectives for a defined IT budget and resource level.
2. the cooperation and coordination between executives/leaders in business units, departments, etc, and
executives/leaders in IT Services Delivery organizations to periodically determine/resolve business
priorities and reach agreements as to the appropriate service levels to provide that best supports
business strategies/model, tactics and annual plans/objectives for a defined IT budget and resource
level.
How does these definitions compare to our key concepts?
1. to be specific, measurable, achievable, and realistic – meets all
2. to answer “what” components are aligned – strategies/model, tactics and annual plans/objectives
3. to answer “who” must reach an alignment agreement – business and IT executives and leaders
4. to recognize the agreement is based on current priorities that can change – periodically (determined by
each company)
5. to recognize limitations in resources – defined IT budget and resources
6. not to include IT execution criteria – meets
Now that we have a workable definition, in Part II we will discuss how to enable, organize and develop a
consistent, repeatable process to achieve IT business alignment.
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2009 Palomino Consulting Group, LLC
4. After three decades of experience with „Big 8‟ consulting firms and CIO of Fortune 500 and high growth, mid-cap
companies, Ross excels at delivering outstanding information technology (IT) value to the Business while building
excellence in IT organizations - running all aspects of IT like a business. He has industry expertise in several areas
including oil and gas, high-tech, telecommunications, consumer products, logistics and airlines. Besides for leading all
aspects of IT - strategy, finance, people, solutions and services - Ross also led many, critical IT and business
transformation initiatives – all successful. While CIO and Executive Planning Committee Member at Southwest Airlines,
the company grew over 15% annually and was consistently one of Fortune‟s Most Admired Companies, and a Fortune and
Computerworld Top Companies/IT Organizations to Work For in America. Southwest and IT also won several CIO
Magazine 100 Awards for Supply Chain and Customer Initiatives. He is currently the Founder and CEO of the Palomino
Consulting Group, www.palominoconsultinggroup.com .
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2009 Palomino Consulting Group, LLC