Getting the Business and IT Aligned, Part 1: Myths, Mysteries, and Realities

by Tushar K. Hazra

We often hear from our colleagues, friends, and associates in different companies about how they are doing in their efforts to align IT initiatives with (internal or external customers) business organizations and how well they are doing in forging ahead with such relationship-building ventures. It is mind boggling to hear some of the stories of success and failure from different practitioners in the field, particularly when it relates to the impact business-IT alignments have on the entire enterprise. From my experience in helping practitioners in various companies to align their business and IT strategies under different circumstances, I submit that the topic of business and IT alignment is highly overrated. I think many companies spend too much time and effort and invest too many resources in their business-IT alignments. I strongly believe that some of this delusion can be avoided by first recognizing the myths, mysteries, and realities of the business-IT alignment initiatives and then putting forward an approach that defines "who, what, when, and how" to manage the initiatives. Delivering the business goals over quantifiable segments iteratively and incrementally will demonstrate the real value of the alignment for most companies.

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Getting the Business and IT Aligned, Part 1: Myths, Mysteries, and Realities29 November 2006