Achieving and Sustaining Business and IT Alignment
Thursday, November 16, 2006
- California Management Review
Authors Jerry Luftman and Tom Brier discuss business and IT Alignment. What facilitates it? They call these enablers. What hinders it? These are called inhibitors.
Working with research and their own experience, the authors show how organizations can overcome the inhibitors and use the enablers to achieve and sustain the goal of business and IT Alignment.
This is an excellent paper that was published in 1999. It is still relevant.
Crafting a Vision for IT (Monday, August 21, 2006) What is the purpose of a vision statement for IT? This article examines how a vision can accelerate the business value generated by an IT Organization.
IT Strategy: IT Cannot be a Profit Center (Friday, September 08, 2006) IT Strategy: Of late, there is a lot of emphasis on IT ROI. While this is commendable, extending this argument to convert the IT Organization into a profit center is taking it to another extreme. For example, are HR, finance, and marketing profit centers? Why not?
IT Strategy Course (Friday, September 08, 2006) At the end of the day, most business leaders agree that alignment is critical, but they don't know how to achieve that goal. This course discusses the challenges of aligning IT with business in depth and presents a differentiated approach and framework.
IT Strategy Blog (Friday, September 08, 2006) My views on IT Strategy
IT Strategy Framework (Monday, September 25, 2006) IT Strategy requires a process and a framework. The former provides the steps and the latter the toolkit. Together they help an organization get to an IT Strategy that maximizes IT ROI. This article addresses the latter.
What is IT Strategy? (Saturday, October 14, 2006) There are many definitions of IT Strategy. Which one is true?
Talk to Me: The Disconnect Between Business and IT (Monday, May 07, 2007) The disconnect between business and IT is often lamented. A lot is spoken and written about this chasm. Ostensibly, a lot is done to bridge it. Yet, most would agree the chasm still exists.
Why IT ROI doesn't matter? (Friday, November 03, 2006) Does IT ROI matter? Great many intelligent people are spending sleepless nights and countless dollars calculating IT ROI. The author argues that they are wasting their time and shareholder dollars!
Putting IT Strategy in Context (Wednesday, November 08, 2006) Often, the emphasis is on creating an IT Strategy. Before you do, understand the context of IT Strategy i.e. what is its role and scope.
Enterprise Information Systems Strategy and Planning (Thursday, November 16, 2006) Porter (2001)’s proposition of the evolution of technologies in business emphasizes the need for
information systems strategies to enable the real-time optimization of the value chain. It is echoed throughout the
literature that information technology strategies need to be aligned with business strategies. This paper proposes a
framework for the development of information systems strategies and plans driven by business objectives and
strategies. It provides an integrated framework for the development of technology architectures and business
processes across the value chain. A systematic approach to enterprise information system planning is presented.
IT Alignment Maturity Model (Wednesday, December 06, 2006) One of the toughest questions to answer is: is my business is alignment with IT?
Prof. Luftman tries to answer this question in this paper originally published in 2000.
IT Strategist's Dilemma (Saturday, December 09, 2006) Every strategist faces the "stay the course" or "cut and run" choice, at least once in their careers. How do you decide which course is the correct one? More, importantly, is this even a correct or complete set of choices?
Talk to Me: The Disconnect Between Business and IT (Tuesday, May 08, 2007) The disconnect between business and IT is often lamented. A lot is spoken and written about this chasm. Ostensibly, a lot is done to bridge it. Yet, most would agree the chasm still exists.
Avoiding the Alignment Trap (Sunday, September 09, 2007) Alignment is an issue but are you focused on the right strategy to fix it?
Enabling the Strategy Focused Organization (Monday, January 14, 2008) Is IT Value compromised because of the strained relationship between business and IT? How can the CIO overcome this challenge?
A Framework for Strategic IT Alignment (Monday, September 15, 2008) Is IT Alignment a strategic weapon to gain competitive advantage? Duh! But do you know to what extent information intensity affects competitive advantage? Hmm...