Tag Business Alignment

Entries 6 Total

Business Alignment – Current Thinking for IT Leaders

Aug 17, ’10 10:18 AM

Following is a curated list of resources that reflect current thinking on a topic of interest to IT leaders. You can assist this effort by contributing insight from your own real-world experiences, and are invited to suggest changes or additions here.

Current Thinking Includes:

Business-IT Alignment has been a perennial item on surveys and “complaint lists” by business leaders for several years. The majority of posts on the topic begin with an acknowledgment that much has already been written and discussed, yet the topic continues to be listed as a key priority or gap for IT leaders.  Current views include the need for a strong business sense first and foremost among IT staff, perhaps going as far as listing business acumen before technical skills in position descriptions and interviews:

NetworkWorld: CIOs cry out for business sense

Chief Information Officers (CIO) are crying out for IT analysts and architects with business sense in the face of a looming skills shortage, according to a report from recruitment firm Hudson ICT.

NetworkWorld: CVS IT Chief on Remedy for Business-IT Alignment

Technology starts with really good business thinking. And if you look at core strategy here, you’ll find a common theme which is a focus on customer experience and customer services.

CIO Insight: Kroll’s CIO on Effective Alignment

I’m not looking for someone who can install a server. I want people who can not just deliver what the business wants, but who also knows the business, the technology and the capabilities of the team so well that he or she can actually push further with what IT can do. That includes building relationships with the business and their IT peers.

Tight integration of IT and business units, especially Operations is another key suggestion, while converging on one vision and set of goals::

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Is the Role of CIO Ascending or Descending?

Jun 12, ’09 10:54 AM
Reading through the abundant content on the topics of “partnership” and “alignment” between IT and business units, it’s easy to get a little dispirited.  In survey after survey:
From the Business perspective, we hear that there is a large communication divide between IT and business units, that IT doesn’t understand the business, that IT staff don’t have the necessary skills to think beyond simple black and white (as proven by their Myers-Briggs scores), that they are still thinking in bits and bytes instead of business solutions, that they lack the communication and marketing skills to translate IT investments into business strategies, and can’t move fast enough to keep up with those changing strategies anyway…
From the IT perspective, we hear that the business is difficult to work with, that they only treat IT as a service organization and not as strategic partners, that their business “strategy” is really just a series of tactical projects that become a strategy in hindsight, that the business doesn’t understand the need for “infrastructure”, that IT only learns about the organization’s plans well downstream from when they were envisioned, and that IT may not have the “seat at the table” it requires to be a real strategic partner anyway…
Much as it’s possible to tune into a soap opera and see the same character hooked up to that hospital room ventilator after missing a year’s worth of episodes, we see these studies repeated each year, with eerily similar results.
Paging Dr. Phil?
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The Influence Game for New CIOs

Apr 23, ’09 5:06 PM

The real impact that a new CIO will have after joining an organization is largely driven by that individuals leadership skills and ability to deliver, but is also framed by other factors, including:

  • The perceived role of the CIO as held by the reporting point. Is it the CEOs expectation that the CIO will be primarily a technical manager that can hold their own at an occasional staff meeting, or a polished leader who is as comfortable in the Boardroom as in the data center? Is it somewhere in-between? The consensus definition of the role of the CIO, if there is one, has changed over the years, with substantial variation by industry and company. One organization’s CIO is another’s tactical data center manager, and is another’s strategic thought partner.
  • The expectations of C-level peers and business customers. What has their experience been with the prior CIO at this company, or at prior companies? Do they bring an expectation of being able to partner with the new CIO based on prior experience, or will the first meeting with them be viewed as an opportunity to hand over a long list of demands, perhaps even including their plan to drive the engagement model for IT services?
  • The historical success of the IT department within the company. What is the institutionalized view of the IT team’s historical performance? Are high expectations already in place based on prior performance, or is there a sense among the executive team that the IT shop has not delivered in the past? Upon taking the new position, will the CIO be digging the IT shop out of a reputation hole, or is IT perhaps on the CFO’s short list for planned investment cuts?
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