The potential impact of information technology on organizations has increased sharply during the last two decades. IT has come to play a prominent role in organizations, leading to the belief that information systems (IS) strategy should be aligned with the business strategy. Alignment of business and IS has consistently ranked as the most important concern for the CIOs; one reason for this is that strategic IS alignment can enhance not only IS success but organizational success as well.

This issue of Cutter Benchmark Review focuses on a topic of great interest to both information systems (IS) professionals and executives in other areas: strategic information systems alignment. For the purpose of this issue, we define alignment as the fit, or correspondence, between business and information systems strategy.

This issue of Cutter Benchmark Review focuses on a topic of interest to both information systems professionals and executives in other areas: strategic IS alignment.

This survey investigated the extent to which IS organizations are — or perceive themselves to be — strategically aligned with the business. Of the 87 responding organizations, 15% have more than 10,000 employees, 24% have between 1,000 and 10,000 employees, 31% have between 100 and 1,000 employees, and the remaining organizations have 100 or fewer employees. Almost half (48%) of the responding organizations are headquartered or based in North America; 24% are in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa; 12% are in the Australia/Pacific area; 10% in Asia; and 6% in South America.

We are witnessing a boom in "social software" -- the next generation of online collaborative environments that leverage the vast wealth of connections in our networks. There is great potential for this type of software to be used in organizational and business contexts, provided collaboration is also well understood as a culture and a philosophy.

Part business, part IT, and part organizational science, collaboration is cropping up everywhere in organizations. As it is too hot to handle for any single department alone, it is bringing all parties to the discussion table. We are witnessing the pervasive emergence of "social software" and must learn how to incorporate this important trend in long-term organizational strategies.

Business modeling currently describes a vast territory with conflicting purposes, methods, and outcomes. Some of the confusion is historical -- as between financial modeling and models created specifically for software development, for example.

More than ever, companies are responsible for ensuring the privacy of the personally identifiable information (PII) in their care. The fact that PII is often in the hands of personnel using powerful mobile computers and storage devices away from corporate facilities only complicates matters. Not surprisingly, information security and privacy incidents are on the rise, along with growing public awareness of them. What is a company to do?

More than ever, companies are responsible for ensuring the privacy of the personally identifiable information (PII) in their care. The fact that PII is often in the hands of personnel using powerful mobile computers and storage devices away from corporate facilities only complicates matters. Not surprisingly, information security and privacy incidents are on the rise, along with growing public awareness of them.

More than ever, companies are responsible for ensuring the privacy of the personally identifiable information (PII) in their care. The fact that PII is often in the hands of personnel using powerful mobile computers and storage devices away from corporate facilities only complicates matters. Not surprisingly, information security and privacy incidents are on the rise, along with growing public awareness of them.

More than ever, companies are responsible for ensuring the privacy of the personally identifiable information (PII) in their care. The fact that PII is often in the hands of personnel using powerful mobile computers and storage devices away from corporate facilities only complicates matters. Not surprisingly, information security and privacy incidents are on the rise, along with growing public awareness of them. What is a company to do?

More than ever, companies are responsible for ensuring the privacy of the personally identifiable information (PII) in their care. The fact that PII is often in the hands of personnel using powerful mobile computers and storage devices away from corporate facilities only complicates matters. Not surprisingly, information security and privacy incidents are on the rise, along with growing public awareness of them.

More than ever, companies are responsible for ensuring the privacy of the personally identifiable information (PII) in their care. The fact that PII is often in the hands of personnel using powerful mobile computers and storage devices away from corporate facilities only complicates matters. Not surprisingly, information security and privacy incidents are on the rise, along with growing public awareness of them.

More than ever, companies are responsible for ensuring the privacy of the personally identifiable information (PII) in their care. The fact that PII is often in the hands of personnel using powerful mobile computers and storage devices away from corporate facilities only complicates matters. Not surprisingly, information security and privacy incidents are on the rise, along with growing public awareness of them.

More than ever, companies are responsible for ensuring the privacy of the personally identifiable information (PII) in their care. The fact that PII is often in the hands of personnel using powerful mobile computers and storage devices away from corporate facilities only complicates matters. Not surprisingly, information security and privacy incidents are on the rise, along with growing public awareness of them.

More than ever, companies are responsible for ensuring the privacy of the personally identifiable information (PII) in their care. The fact that PII is often in the hands of personnel using powerful mobile computers and storage devices away from corporate facilities only complicates matters. Not surprisingly, information security and privacy incidents are on the rise, along with growing public awareness of them.

More than ever, companies are responsible for ensuring the privacy of the personally identifiable information (PII) in their care. The fact that PII is often in the hands of personnel using powerful mobile computers and storage devices away from corporate facilities only complicates matters. Not surprisingly, information security and privacy incidents are on the rise, along with growing public awareness of them.

More than ever, companies are responsible for ensuring the privacy of the personally identifiable information (PII) in their care. The fact that PII is often in the hands of personnel using powerful mobile computers and storage devices away from corporate facilities only complicates matters. Not surprisingly, information security and privacy incidents are on the rise, along with growing public awareness of them.

More than ever, companies are responsible for ensuring the privacy of the personally identifiable information (PII) in their care. The fact that PII is often in the hands of personnel using powerful mobile computers and storage devices away from corporate facilities only complicates matters. Not surprisingly, information security and privacy incidents are on the rise, along with growing public awareness of them.

More than ever, companies are responsible for ensuring the privacy of the personally identifiable information (PII) in their care. The fact that PII is often in the hands of personnel using powerful mobile computers and storage devices away from corporate facilities only complicates matters. Not surprisingly, information security and privacy incidents are on the rise, along with growing public awareness of them.

More than ever, companies are responsible for ensuring the privacy of the personally identifiable information (PII) in their care. The fact that PII is often in the hands of personnel using powerful mobile computers and storage devices away from corporate facilities only complicates matters. Not surprisingly, information security and privacy incidents are on the rise, along with growing public awareness of them.

It is common knowledge that more than two-thirds of all software projects today do not succeed for a variety of reasons: they are either terminated, become obsolete, exceed time restrictions or budget, or deliver a reduced set of functionality. Ambiguous and incomplete software requirements along with insufficient testing are major contributors to these failures [51].

The accompanying Executive Report provides an overview of executable acceptance test-driven development (EATDD), a software development methodology where automated tests are used to specify high-level functional requirements and drive the development.

A May 2006 article in APICS magazine describes the search by a California-based global electronics manufacturer for the best approach to continuous improvement.1 The company found that the right combination of the Theory of Constraints (TOC),2 Lean, and Six Sigma3 led to the most effective long-term results (see sidebar "In Search of the Best Approach").

An old saying about armed conflict states, "You never see the one that gets you." The same can be said of a variety of liability and compliance risks affecting businesses. Sometimes the greatest legal threat to a company comes from a source that the company or its counsel never would have expected.