A colleague once told to me how to assess the health of the economy. “If your neighbor is laid off, it is a recession” he explained, “and if you are, then it is a depression.”
Well, as signs go, those are pretty good ones for your economic outlook.
If only we had similar signs to assess business and IT alignment. Business leaders have whipped up quite a storm about the topic. However, one seldom finds a discussion on the cause for that concern. I mean, what prompts people to get concerned about business and IT alignment or lack thereof?
Before we get crazed about getting business and IT aligned, I thought, it would be helpful to know the symptoms of that disease. Are there telltale signs of trouble in paradise?
I believe that there are and this article discusses my favorite seven. However, in the interest of full disclosure, I must reveal that these are only symptoms that require further analysis to get to the root cause. Perhaps, what is more dangerous than not to have any cause for concern is to confuse symptom for root cause.
The 7 signs of trouble in the “business and IT alignment” paradise
Declining revenues and/or stock price
Fragmented IT organization
Rising IT costs
Frequent leadership changes
Major project failure
Declining employee productivity
Declining employee satisfaction
Let us look at each and see why they point to issues with business and IT alignment. Please bear in mind that they are not presented in any logical order i.e. number one is not necessarily more important than number seven.
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 Value Mapping (Friday, September 08, 2006) Why do some IT organizations create unprecedented shareholder value, while others earn the contempt of their business leaders? It is no secret that aligning IT with business improves IT ROI, what is often in doubt is how to make it happen. Can you say with certainty that your IT is aligned with business? Can you prove it? If improving IT ROI is an imperative for you, read on. This paper will show you how to improve ROI by 10% or more…and
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.
7 Steps to Business and IT Alignment (Monday, November 20, 2006) No business will ever reach the goal of “business and IT alignment”. Should this discourage you from pursuing business and IT alignment? NO! It is a worthy goal to pursue. Indeed, it is a critical one to pursue. You might never reach alignment but you can take steps to get ever closer. This requires a process. Often, we ignore the fact that business and IT alignment is a process. This process does not have a starting point nor does it have an end. It is a series of “learn and do” cycles that incrementally get towards alignment. Let me explain.
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?
It's not just IT, it is Your Brand (Monday, January 22, 2007) When we talk about "business and IT alignment", we often forget about the elephant in the room - the impact of IT on brand. This article discusses the connection and provides examples of how IT can help or hurt your brand.
Buzzword: Business Model (Monday, March 12, 2007) "Business model" has to be the king of buzzwords. "Strategy" is not far behind but there is something about business models that makes it more powerful! This article tries to demystify the term.
Buzzword: IT Capability (Monday, March 19, 2007) What is IT Capability? If you want to understand why some IT organizations create more value than others, it is imperative to understand this buzzword.
It's the Business Model, Stupid! (Monday, March 26, 2007) When talking about business and IT alignment, our focus always goes to business strategy and its alignment with IT strategy. This thought process recognizes a fundamental truth. Unfortunately, it only gets part of the picture.
A Framework For IT Value (Monday, April 02, 2007) In this series, we will discuss IT Value - from its definition to a framework to measure and track it
Part II: A Framework for IT Value (Monday, April 09, 2007) Last week, we lay the foundation for a discussion on IT Value. This week, we look at specific areas where IT creates value.
Part III: A Framework for IT Value (Monday, April 23, 2007) Last week, we focused on revenues. This week, we look at the costs in the IT value equation.
Part IV: A Framework For IT Value (Monday, April 30, 2007) Last week, we discussed the cost dimension of IT Value. This week, we will discuss the time to market dimension.
Painting the Picture of Change (Wednesday, July 25, 2007) In my previous article I discussed “The Human Side of Change ,” outlining three simple, yet powerful steps to bring humanity back into the change equation. This article expands on the first of these concepts, Painting the Picture of Change.
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?
IT Strategist as a Race Car Driver? (Tuesday, February 12, 2008) Learning from Mario Andretti sounds like fun but what has that got to do with IT Strategy? Read on!
Spending Smarter: Rebalancing IT Budget (Monday, February 25, 2008) How can a CIO create value when most of the budget is spent "keeping the lights on"? Is there a way out of this dilemma? Read On...
Post Merger Integration: The Hidden IT Multiplier in Mergers (Monday, March 03, 2008) "More than half of all acquisitions actually destroy shareholder
value, according to independent research, and integration efforts that fall short of the mark are often to blame!
Influences on IT Strategy (Monday, March 03, 2008) Excellent overview of IT Strategy and things that have an influence on its outcome. Must read!
IT Strategy For Business Value (Monday, March 10, 2008) The paper presents a framework for developing an IT Strategy for business value.
IT Strategy Framework with SOA (Monday, March 10, 2008) A very good presentation that takes IT Strategy to solutions architecture using SOA. Good read!
Developing an IS/IT Strategy (Monday, March 17, 2008) A very good presentation on developing an IT Strategy. Must Read!
A Framework for Developing IT Strategy (Monday, March 17, 2008) A very good discussion on developing IT Strategy including detailed steps and explanations. Must Read!
IT Strategy for the Law Firm (Monday, March 17, 2008) A presentation on the challenges facing CIOs at law firms and how to create an IT Strategy to overcome them.
Managing for Shareholder Value in difficult times (Monday, June 02, 2008) Is there "managing" to anything else? Read this excellent discussion on how everything in an enterprise should be managed.
The History and Future of Value Management (Monday, July 07, 2008) An excellent presentation on measuring and managing "value" - discusses various frameworks. MUST READ!
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...
DAM/VAM: A Structured Methodology for Developing and IT Strategy (Monday, November 17, 2008) Demand and value assessment methodology is a structured approach to quantifying the demand for and the value from IT investments. This guide provides a step-by-step approach to implementing DAM/VAM. Excellent Read!
Rss