Alignment Critical to MIS Success

Michael R. Wood is a Business Process Improvement & IT Strategist Independent Consultant. He is creator of the business process-improvement methodology called HELIX and founder of The Natural Intelligence Group, a strategy, process improvement and technology consulting company. He is also a CPA, has served as an Adjunct Professor in Pepperdine's Management MBA program, an Associate Professor at California Lutheran University, and on the boards of numerous professional organizations. Mr. Wood is a sought after presenter of HELIX workshops and seminars in both the U.S. and Europe.

 

What does it mean to have an aligned MIS organization?

Does it mean having the most efficient operations or the lowest cost of technology ownership? Or does it mean that the MIS organization mirrors the culture and business strategies of the overall business?

To be sure, MIS must deliver information systems that are reliable and available virtually 24/7, 365 days a year. But that is just the ante in the MIS survival game.

Today, successful CIOs--those who rationally can aspire to the CEO position--understand that the MIS organization is the most crucial cross-functional leverage point with the organization. As such, the MIS organization is expected to understand the business of the organization from strategy through operational processes. More and more MIS is charged with leading crucial business process improvement initiatives.

So what does it mean to be aligned? In his August 2001 article “Alignment and Performance Management” in ASPA ONLINE, L. Douglas Kiel (Professor of Public Administration and Political Economy at the University of Texas at Dallas), defines alignment as follows:

“Alignment is a relative term that defines the extent to which an organization’s policies and practices are supportive of the organization’s strategic goals.”

Using this definition, an…

Please log in or sign up below to read the rest of the article.