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Alignment: The Next Evolution of BPI
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.
According to a major 2007 survey, the top initiative for CIOs was Business Process Improvement. And according to the Ziff Davis/CIO Insight article “Companies Falter at Aligning IT to Business”, by Brian P. Watson (Sept. 10), “most companies find their IT to be ineffective and poorly aligned to their business.”
While it is good news the CIOs are recognizing the need for better alignment, it would appear that few know how to achieve it. Given the IT world is over 50 years old, the continued misalignment issues are troublesome at best.
Having dedicated my entire professional life to the art and science of Business Process Improvement since 1979, I have come to realize that improvement is the wrong word. Instead, the concept should be Business Process Alignment. I further submit that 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.
Getting aligned is one thing. Staying aligned is something all together different. Like the human body--where alignment of the shoulders, spine, hips and so on is critical for good health--so it is in organizations, where the goals need to be aligned with stakeholder needs, the operations aligned to achieving those goals and IT aligned to properly leverage operations.…
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