Business and IT: A Gap Analysis

by Robert J. Benson

Some time ago, I spoke at a conference about the value of IT and the related challenge of business-IT alignment. In the middle of the presentation, a fellow in the back stood up and berated me for emphasizing the separation between IT and business. He felt that by talking about value, alignment, and other gap-closing techniques, I was encouraging everyone to behave as though the separation between IT and business should continue to exist. His comments included, "Doesn't the e-business phenomenon show that there can be integration of IT and business? Aren't you irresponsibly adding to the behaviors of separation? Shouldn't you instead encourage IT people to behave as businesspeople and join the rest of the enterprise?"