|
Execution
Our respondents don't have as much to say about execution, because once they achieve alignment, most IT organizations can make things happen. But there is a danger of over-executing. Organizations march forward and implement without noting that the business situation may have changed. Great organizations and CIOs stay attuned to context. When the environment changes, alignment has to be recalibrated.
The CIO at a transportation firm explains how his company executes alignment: "The business department heads are beginning to understand that they need to guide/focus the operations based on a central purpose/plan without adding a lot of staff. One way to accomplish this is through the effective use of work management systems."
In the field, managers are still able to plan their activities, but they report against an overall plan, says this CIO. "We have three line functions that are all working on implementing this capability. In the past, IT was an afterthought with these departments.
"Now IT is critical, because not only are [these departments] dependent on the systems to fulfill their daily responsibilities, [but] they understand there is valuable trend information that can be derived." For this firm, alignment means staying close to business groups and using IT to solve issues rather than waiting for users to ask.
Some companies are executing alignment by taking the goals of their business partners and drawing a direct line to the goals of the IT department. "If I can do that -- and execute at the pace the business needs and deliver results -- then we are in alignment," says Kevin Apperson, CIO of Allegis Group, a global IT staffing company based in Hanover, Md. "We do that by defining for each IS service who the customer is, what their goals are, how much the IS service costs (metrics are based on the customer) and a business plan for delivering the expected results," Apperson adds.
If alignment is a mutually agreed-upon vision of business direction broken into time-boxed technology milestones, it can indeed provide a powerful, recurring source of competitive advantage. But in truth, many large organizations lack clear direction. Midmarket companies have the advantage of smaller size and sharper business focus.
In Why Things Bite Back, Edward Tenner writes, "Humankind is either on its way to the stars, or hurtling out of a high-rise window to the street and mumbling, 'So far, so good.'" The aligned organization is bound for the stars; the misaligned enterprise is a couple of stories short of splat. Happy landings.
SURVEY METHODOLOGY: We surveyed 105 thought leaders and practitioners on their companies' IT-business alignment practices. The sample comprised large enterprises (26%) and midsized companies (74%) in industries such as aerospace, banking, health care and telecom. Researchers followed up with some respondents by e-mail.
Thornton May is a respected futurist, adviser and educator whose insights on IT strategy have appeared in Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek and numerous computer industry publications. To comment on this story, email editor@ciodecisions.com.
|
