IT - Business Alignment

Making the Mix Work

Ensuring that IT is aligned with business remains a top concern among the nation’s leading CIOs, according to an annual survey conducted by the Society for Information Management (SIM).

However, with the help of enterprise architects, this critical issue can be alleviated, allowing CIOs to focus on other issues such as retaining and attracting IT professionals, another top concern on this year’s list.

Jerry Luftman, associate dean and distinguished professor at Stevens Institute of Technology and SIM vice president of academic affairs, led the research effort, which surveyed more than 130 CIO and IT executives from 112 different companies. He presented his findings at the October SIMposium conference in Memphis, Tennessee.

Luftman discussed the top six enablers to alignment: senior executive support for IT was number one followed by an understanding from IT of the firm’s business environment, a close partnership between IT and business, IT plans linked to business plans, and good communications between IT and business.

He also offered a list of the top eleven inhibitors to alignment. They included:

• Lack of senior executive support for IT.

• Business units’ lack of understanding of the firm’s IT environment.

• ack of support from business units for corporate-wide IT initiatives.

• Lack of clarity and predictability of corporate goals/directions.

• Business units competing for—rather than sharing—IT resources.

• IT and the business governance.

• Business units’ prioritization of IT needs.

• Resistance from senior executives.

• Business commitments of budgets to IT investments.

• Business commitments of staff to support IT investments.

• Lack of clear ownership of IT-business alignment.

“Business people must recognize the most important thing they can do is act as a sponsor for an IT initiative,” Luftman said. “To do that, they need the IT management team to come in with specific ideas. Business executives are usually more than willing to support them, but the initiative must come from IT.”

Ultimately, Luftman believes alignment comes down to establishing better relationships—and understanding—between IT and business executives. “Some IT people call business people their 'customers.' This must evolve into more of a partnership.”
The role of an enterprise architect is key in this alignment. Without someone to overlook the process, both the IT and business sides will have problems achieving their goals.

A PERVASIVE PROBLEM

Luftman, who has spent years researching this topic, continues to be baffled that IT-business alignment re-mains a problem. “IT-business alignment has been a persistent problem since the early ’80s. You would think after almost thirty years it would become less of a concern. But that isn’t the case.”

Luftman credits three key problems for the pervasiveness of the issue. The first is that there is still a misunderstanding about what IT-business alignment is. “The problem must be examined from both perspectives. It cannot be 'how to align IT with business'. Too frequently, people look at IT as a secondary role instead of a driver of strategic change.”

The second problem, Luftman said, is that “everybody is looking for a magical answer. However, there is not any one thing that will address the problem.”

The final problem, according to Luftman, is not properly addressing all of the issues on the inhibitor list. “If you miss any one of them, then you will miss addressing the problem.”

Luftman believes effective communication, a balanced set of metrics both groups understand, an effective governance process, a true partnership, the correct technology, and good human resources will be the key to alignment.

Rachel Upshaw of Hackney Publications is a contributor to A&G.