Dancing to the right tune
Earlier this year I read a series of posts covering articles from the MIT Sloan School of Management and The Wall Street Journal which dealt with the causes and consequences of failures to align business and IT. One blogger took the stance - a little speciously in my view - that if you had to talk about business alignment then alignment in your organisation was already a problem. Frankly, the only time I see a doctor about my health is when I have an issue with it.
But he and the other strands did raise a very powerful point and one that is particularly dear to my heart. It’s not about alignment, per se, the core issue is integration. IT is part of the business. A key and core part of any business today whether you are dealing with the pure utilitarian delivery of the base services – such as file, print, authentication, email and so on - or the innovative use of the technical infrastructure to make money.
If I remember correctly there were three main points raised that would drive integration between business and IT.
• Build/train awareness and technology literacy in the business management of the company.
• Give your IT leaders and incipient leaders a clear understanding of the business and its aims/strategy together with core education in business skills
• Get yourself a CIO who has fundamental business skills and awareness but who also walks and talks “techie” with his staff and is respected for his ability
And I’d like to add a fourth.
• Accept no excuses as to why this can’t or shouldn’t happen. Make it a key metric on performance reviews and for objective setting at the highest level.
And then folks, create a compensation structure for IT that matches that of the business in terms of potential earnings related to business activities that they engender, support and deliver. Money and rewards will soon align and integrate and have everybody dancing to the same tune.
Trust me - I'm a choreographer.
Senior managers are fully aware of the importance of technology and IT for the day to day running of their business. However, although much time, effort and money has been invested in IT, organisations are failing to achieve the benefits from such outlay, causing many managers to view IT as little more than a financial black hole; swallowing cash and providing little in return.
But this comes of little surprise considering that the majority of organisations are not actively seeking to align their IT and Corporate Strategies. More often than not, senior managers view IT as being separate from the core business, meaning that corporate aims and objectives are often lost or mis-communicated to IT managers.
Business managers can no longer afford to view IT as only functioning to keep the business ticking over. Providing facilities such as email, network support and telephone calls is only part of what the IT department should be delivering. Indeed, IT is a much more valuable commodity when used correctly and to its full potential; it is able to enhance and support the growth of a business and drive innovation.
However, in order to achieve this high level of integration senior managers must change their attitudes towards IT. It is only by including their IT providers in key business discussions and aligning business objectives with core IT strategies that business managers will finally begin to reap the benefits of their IT investment.
Joanna Sedley-Burke
Business Development Director
Sovereign Business Integration
www.sovereign-plc.co.uk
Posted by: Joanna Sedley-Burke | 22 August 2008 at 09:51 AM