Aligning IT Strategy
What Do We Mean By IT Strategy Alignment?
IT strategy should be lead by business strategy but the reality is often quite different. In many companies, communication between business and the IT department has deteriorated or broken down.
IT may start to define objectives which are not aligned with organisational goals, forgetting that IT is there to support the business and is not an end in itself. Viewed from the IT perspective, the opposite also applies and when functional requirements can be identified rapidly, it is often expected that IT should be able to implement them equally quickly.
Information technology does offer huge advantages, especially when applied to repetitive actions or processes. Therefore significant additional costs are often incurred when organisations make exceptions to their usual standards and methods. This also applies to the technology itself because the more standardized it is, the easier it will be to maintain.
These points both demonstrate that information technology planning needs a long-term perspective, whenever possible, and one which is geared to the investment cycle, around 3-5 years for most organizations.
Why IT Strategy Alignment?
Various internal and external influences must be taken into account, in the short, medium and long term plans of IT departments. Examples would include:
External influences:
- Customer requests
- Legislation
- Regulation
- Competition
Internal influences:
- Organization
- Sales channels
- Products
- Financial situation
This requires a combination of the organization?s objectives together with the technical possibilities. Finally the derived requirements and objectives must be mapped onto the quality, service level, cost and project portfolio management processes.
The IT strategy must be derived from the organizational strategy, which identifies the future needs of the organization.
Our Services
COREVA?s services in this area include:
- Analysis of business strategy and requirements, user expectations and satisfaction
- Derivation and documentation of requirements for IT
- Definition of achievement criteria
- Definition of the strategic platform (systems, applications, tools, etc.)
- Assistance in managing a project portfolio
- Planning projects and measures
- Support during selection of partnerships, outsourcing solutions, suppliers
- Implementation of clear and concise reports for IT management and business.
The Benefits
Strategic business planning and creating a business-focussed IT strategy is necessary to avoid communication breakdown between business and IT departments.
The alignment of IT and business priorities will result in an IT Strategy that focuses on business needs, with a targeted allocation of IT budgets and resources. This in turn benefits you with greater:
- Reliability
- Customer satisfaction
- Levels of achievement
- Competitiveness in the marketplace.
