Aligning IT and Business Objectives: Introduction

by Ed Yourdon

As a reasonably well-informed IT professional, I can still remember how shocked I was when I first heard metrics gurus such as Howard Rubin and Paul Strassmann proclaiming that 50% of IT development projects produce no business value for their enterprise, and that aggregate IT spending exceeds the aggregate profits of most US and international firms. Obviously, I wasn't the only one who was shocked: during most of this decade, CIOs and CEOs have struggled to find more effective ways to ensure that IT spending and IT strategies are more closely aligned with business goals. This month's issue of the Cutter IT Journal contains four provocative articles that provide some interesting perspectives on the subject of business-IT alignment.