Are You Aligned?
By George S. Paras
Whenever business undergoes a change of focus, there is a
resurgence of interest in the topic of “business-IT
alignment.” Whether we transition into a period of economic
uncertainty with greater attention to costs, into an
opportunistic period of market repositioning through M&A, or
into a period of competitive differentiation through
innovation, there is a renewed focus on IT and its
performance in serving the business—that “alignment” thing.
Alignment has occupied the “top ten” CIO concerns list
longer than any other single issue, judging by dozens of
surveys and hundreds of anecdotal observations. The only
difference is how high on the list it appears. Alignment
concerns are rising again as many organizations wrestle with
impending change and uncertainty. It never disappears from
the list, though, because even when many IT leaders claim to
be “aligned,” it is common to find that not all of their
business-side counterparts agree. Why is that the case?
What is really happening here is that there are multiple
perspectives on the word “alignment.” When IT leaders
address a specific stakeholder calling for alignment, they
often don’t pay enough attention to other voices using the
same word in a different way. It is critical to determine
the specific “type” of alignment you are being asked to
achieve. When business unit leadership, COOs, and many CIOs
say “business-IT alignment,” they are usually focused on
aligning business objectives with projects, the most common
measure of alignment. When CFOs say it, though, they are
frequently focused on aligning overall business value with
bottom-line IT costs. When CEOs say it, they are usually
talking about aligning business strategies with everything:
projects, applications, infrastructure, and costs. Which
perspective is dominant and the one IT leaders should care
most about? The simple answer is whoever is asking, but the
real answer is “all of them” and each perspective requires a
different approach.
In this issue of Architecture and Governance Magazine, we
present several approaches to addressing the “alignment”
challenge. In “EA: Bringing Order to Chaos,” we explore EA
as a means to establish an enterprise transformation
context. Later on, we examine the relationships between
business processes, applications, and infrastructure in
“Managing Risks Using Software Maps.” In the last two
articles, the operative word is “action” as we look at EA
and IT governance as bridges to aligning with business and
transformation strategies.
A&G readers have consistently expressed interest in
stories about the relationship between business and IT
organizations and how organizations have used EA, portfolio
management, and governance concepts to address alignment and
transformation issues as businesses adapt to change. If you
have a story along those lines to share, please submit your
idea to
editor@architectureandgovernance.com for consideration.
As always, we welcome your thoughts.
George
S. Paras is the editor-in-chief of Architecture &
Governance Magazine and managing director of
EAdirections
