I'm pretty amazed at the seemingly endless discussion and un-evolved thinking around "aligning IT with the business." Various machinations have surfaced ("it's about IT being part of the business" or "it's about aligning IT and business") and at least a dozen vendor-driven acronyms have emerged all purporting to put IT & business on the same page. However, I've yet to see a more detailed, behavioral analysis applied to better understanding the underlying human factors which still make this a relevant discourse and one that still appears to keep executives up at night.
As an IT outsider, it seems that this is no different than any other inter-departmental cultural divide hindered by a general misunderstanding of what one party perceives to be of value, exacerbated by disparate metrics and measures, and undermined by intra-departmental silos of dysfunction.
Finding Common Ground
As with any cultural divide, there are fundamental steps which can be taken to ensure that both parties find mutual benefit and success. And of course, technology can help play a part. Hence, a four part plan for IT:
1. Common Goals: As with any business, this is all about IT getting lean and orienting itself around a value/cost/risk axis. Starting with a firm (documented) understanding of business goals and priorities, IT then can establish a customer-centric beacon upon which all activities are then managed, executed and measured. If it's not on the business agenda, it should never get onto the IT agenda.
2. Common Language: In most areas of business, and certainly all areas of the public domain (government, education, healthcare), the value orientation is predicated upon the services being delivered to customers. Even manufacturing ‘output' can be considered a service since without the underlying orchestration of the supply chain, nothing would ever be built. Likewise, IT should start with the ‘language of business' and ground itself in the management of its own IT service portfolio. This requires a full understanding of IT cost, quality & function packaged in terms of the services being delivered or supported.
3. Common Currency: While business is based upon a service orientation, the way the business operates is actually quite different. Accounting principles require a more detailed view beyond just the ‘cost of the service' - for purposes of depreciation, tax, operating margins and capital expense. A service oriented view of IT "cost" is absolutely needed to establish a common language with the business around value, but the currency of business is more rigorous and requires cost accounting principles applied to asset expenses, labor expenses, application costs, license costs, maintenance on hardware, communications, infrastructure. Similarly, IT Financial Management must be able to plan, actualize and optimize its expense base against these same principles and detail -- whether they are IT assets or projects or telecom expenses or software contracts.
4. Common Knowledge: Underpinning all of this is the ability for organizations to create a shared sense of purpose, allowing them to galvanize against common goals with a unified language and currency system. In IT, this is essential to breaking down the long-standing silos of disconnect which have undermined IT for years. ITIL plays an essential role here, by focusing on processes, which quickly afford one function to realize their own role in the context of the broader organization.
Building A Common Culture
In the end, business may or may not care to engage fruitfully in an ‘alignment' discussion with IT. But they are forever connected to IT as their lifeline to innovation and competitive advantage. But by establishing a common framework for success based on shared goals, a language everyone understands, a single currency system and a shared knowledge base, IT leaders can indeed become business leaders and along the way, improve the way the business itself operates by embracing and driving toward a common culture of success.
How has Technology helped you bridge the divide?