Process Improvement > Business Alignment

Given IT has played a significant role in business since the 1960s, it seems almost inconceivable that CIOs are still alignment challenged. Perhaps the challenge isn’t so much getting aligned but staying aligned given the pace and nature of change companies must cope with and adapt to in today’s global economies.

Many organizations understand the need to build and mature a business analysis center of excellence but are scratching their collective heads over how. Where do you start? What does it look like? Who owns it? How does it evolve? Here is some step-by-step guidance.

What is worse for a CIO than a bad economy? An uncertain economy, and that's exactly where we'll be heading in 2011. CIOs will have to shift strategies--if not priorities--to weather the upcoming turbulence in the business atmosphere. Hold on tight and read on for advice to keep you on steady ground.

If all goes well, 2010 offers a great opportunity for CIOs to catch up and re-establish their IT priorities within an overall business strategy. Here's how the wise CIO can take advantage of the opportunity.

The elusive achievement of organizational alignment in corporate America is striking. What is needed is the development of an organizational structure and culture that dynamically self-adjusts and recalibrates to an ever-changing environment.

A project failure is seldom caused by unknown or mysterious factors. In fact, failure is often predictable based on symptoms and warning signs. And it can be prevented by following a disciplined approach to recovery. Here, an experienced project recovery specialist shares his methodology for fixing a failing initiative.

The state of the CIO is stagnant, according to the latest industry surveys. We've taken a look at what they say and boiled them down to the essential message for CIOs: align or die.

All IT projects are really business projects in that they are — or should be — about delivering business value, according to former CIO Bob Lewis, author of A Manifesto for 21st Century Information Technology. But that doesn’t let CIOs or PPM executives off the hook.

Contrary to a recent report, PMO longevity doesn't lead to greater success; PMO success leads to longevity. And PMOs that thrive share fundamental commonalities of alignment, from culture to customer, that they start getting right early in their existence. Here are six ways your PMO needs to be aligned.

So much for 2011 being the year of recovery. Next year should be much like the last. Some recent developments may impact your success as a CIO. What trends are likely to impact your organization from an IT perspective? What strategies and actions will yield the best outcomes for CIOs and their companies?

Would you describe the culture at your organization as casual, chaotic or compliant. How about committed? High-performance companies like Google and Southwest Airlines leverage workforce commitment to drive goal alignment and engagement. The key is fostering an environment of positive accountability.

It's the most wonderful time of the year for you data-hungry CIOs. Welcome to our annual summary of the most recent and relevant IT surveys to keep you aware of all the trends that affect your job and your success. How does your experience match up with what others are saying?

Welcome to IT Strategist's annual roundup of IT surveys. Here are the trends you need to know about to wind up 2009 and head into 2010.

Numerous studies over the years have shown that achieving business/IT alignment can lead to a unifying direction for a company, better leveraging of IT, improved communications, more efficient allocation of resources and increased competitive advantage. Yet, other studies reveal that few companies actually achieve alignment between their business and their most strategic weapon, technology. What they need is an integrated product management process that provides both vertical and horizontal alignment for developing products, systems or services.

Project managers avoid drama and unnecessary stress by understanding the roles and responsibilities of everyone involved, starting with their own. In Part 1 of this series, we outlined the reasons why we run projects and why defined roles are so important. Now let’s dive deeper into the “what and how” of the project manager role.

Does your organization have the right processes in place to support the next great idea? Once an evaluation and selection framework is in place, aligning an “idea pipeline” with the project portfolio is crucial. Otherwise, your next star project might not even get a chance to soar doomed or less-promising initiatives drain resources.

True business-IT alignment can be achieved only when the IT team is self-aligned and well-governed. Use of Service Level Agreements within IT can help meet the internal governance needs before embarking on business-IT alignment and convergence.

A rocket won’t overcome gravity's pull without the right trajectory and energy. Likewise, a project needs systems in place at launch to have a chance of soaring. In this excerpt, we set the stage for a successful liftoff, which requires a shared understanding of team roles and objectives. An agile chartering framework can help.

This writer has realized that improvement is the wrong word. Instead, the concept should be Business Process Alignment. And IT is not alone in the quest for alignment--business goals are often misaligned with stakeholder expectations, policies rarely reflect alignment and business processes are in need of continuous recalibration.

Our yearly look at the state of IT, collected from various industry surveys. We'll take a look at everything from outsourcing and budgets to IT's move toward something greener.

Do PMOs have value? Arguably, yes. At least...sometimes. According to the results of recent research, the presence of a PMO was often a contributor to the attainment of organizational value. What was of particular concern, however, was the actual role of the PMO within the organization. Two broad types emerged within the research; find out what they are inside...

"One, two...the portfolio's coming for you! Three, four, better lock your door!" For a company to be successful, it needs to have a high-performance project portfolio. If it misses the mark, everyone is relegated to the B-movie horror of High Spending and Low (or No) Return for their Money.

A recent survey suggests that U.S. healthcare organizations will require up to 25,000 experienced project managers over the next five years to meet the demands of advanced technology initiatives and health insurance reform.

All organizations face significant challenges in planning for and managing their IT portfolios. These challenges can be addressed, in part, by the use of systematic processes for selecting and evaluating IT investments. Based on a framework created for federal agencies, here are some key components to consider including in your project portfolio-scoring model.

Based on the best practices of winners and finalist from PM Solutions’ annual PMO of the Year award, a new book offers tips, insights and checklists for people management, performance measurement, strategic alignment, organization design and more.

Portfolio Management is about managing the flow of projects through their transitions into and out of the basket of projects being pursued by the organization--and thus integral to the activities found in the PMO. In order to keep PPM processes easy to understand and implement, they will be presented in terms of pre-, active and post-portfolio activities--which we explore here.

If your meetings don’t contribute more value than they cost, they should be cancelled. So how do calculate how much your meetings cost, and what’s the key to making them more effective and efficient?

If you have not been a project manager on a contingent worker status, you're missing a great deal of experience. If you are ready to jump into the consultant PM life, what should you be aware of so that you are happy in the long run?

Are all your resources working toward the same overall goals and strategies? Do people and departments know what is important to the organization? Do they have incentives to get there? Here are three criteria for prioritizing and approving work in a portfolio.

As part of the annual Cutter Predicts series, a senior consultant says the role and related skill sets of business analysts will become more clearly defined, and the profession will continue to gain recognition.

What are the business drivers for enterprise project portfolio management, what are the consolidation challenges and what is the solution?

At the turn of the century most would have agreed with the notion that the CIO was gaining ground as a true leader within organizations. Now in 2010, the pendulum may be swinging in a different direction. Is the future of the CIO in question?

Achieving project success during hard times is no easy feat. But before you cut projects and project staff, read about these valuable tactics you can use to reach your goals on shoestring budgets.

Coordinated execution of multiple projects elevates project management discipline at a new level. The third article in this series explores the project management roles and responsibilities above and beyond the single project boundary.