When it comes to achieving success in business, it is essential to understand the importance of aligning information technology (IT) with business processes. IT is a powerful tool for business transformation, and it is important to ensure that all departments are equally transparent when it comes to IT initiatives. To foster understanding between IT and business teams, it is beneficial to rotate employees between the two departments. When meeting with business colleagues, it is natural to focus on questions related to IT technologies, strategies, and operations.
However, these topics may be unfamiliar territory for many business leaders. Achieving IT alignment requires a shared understanding of the organization's goals, objectives, and priorities between IT and business departments. This requires a culture of collaboration, mutual respect between the company and the IT department, and a willingness to work together to achieve common goals. Teams that are not well aligned with the company will struggle to resolve organizational challenges and may fall into the trap of constantly changing course. Business-IT alignment is a business strategy that prioritizes the integration of IT operations and business objectives to reduce costs, improve agility, and increase return on investment.
By understanding business objectives and aligning IT initiatives accordingly, organizations can streamline processes, automate repetitive tasks, and improve productivity. Depending on the company and the situation, misalignment can come from one or more of these areas: IT strategy not being in sync with overall business strategy; lack of communication between IT and business teams; or lack of understanding of how technology can help achieve organizational goals. Despite the increase in positions such as CTO and CIO, technology leaders continue to have significant difficulties when it comes to collaborating with business units. A close interpersonal relationship is powerful because it “compares IT initiatives with business growth plans” says Deb Gildersleeve, IT director at application creation platform developer QuickBase. They conclude that contrary to what is commonly thought, the path to IT-driven growth involves first achieving high efficiency and then ensuring that IT projects are perfectly aligned with the company.
For this to happen, IT and business functions must work together as a team in a synergistic way. Getting business teams and IT professionals better aligned can be a challenge for several reasons. It is obvious that IT strategy and business strategy must align and that IT strategy cannot exist in a vacuum. Therefore, the key to success lies in exploiting synergies between these processes that would otherwise be inefficient. Most companies agree that companies and the IT department don't work as closely as possible to optimize the delivery of their services and products. Business IQ bases performance metrics on comparing business performance before and after application changes or updates to the application.
This helps accurately understand how users perceived those efforts and better quantify the return on investment. In order to achieve optimal results from aligning information technology with business processes, organizations must create an environment of collaboration between both departments. This includes having open communication channels between both teams, understanding each other's goals and objectives, and having a shared vision for success. Additionally, organizations should use performance metrics such as Business IQ to measure progress towards achieving alignment goals. By taking these steps, organizations can ensure that their IT initiatives are properly aligned with their overall business objectives.
