This question came from a LinkedIn user and I'm interested to know what the PM's here think:
There are many Business & IT consulting & advisory products in the market place today. I am very interested in understanding what the recipients of these services actually want. What is the real value in spending $$$ on projects like this, is the value:
1.Getting an understanding of the business perception of IT today?
2.Understanding how big or small the gap is between IT & the Business?
3.Creating a tangible action list to start the journey to align IT more with the Business?
4.Or something else…..
I would really appreciate if you can list me your top 3 expectations you would hope to obtain if you were doing a Business & IT alignment project
George JucanManaging Partner| Organizational Perfomance Enablers NetworkWoodbridge, Ontario, Canada
Hi Peter,
The 3 major topics one needs to understand to conduct a successful IT/business alignment initiative are:
- where the business wants to be in 5-10 years
- where IT needs to be to support the future state of business lines
- what is IT status today
The one piece that a lot of people spend useless time with is “where business is today”. I typically compare it with that game from country fairs where you have to shoot ducks spinning on a wheel: if you shoot where the duck is you will certainly miss it – you need to shoot where the duck will be a split-second later to get it. Your bullet (alignment roadmap) needs to go from there IT is today (the gun in your hand) to there the business will be in the future (the moving duck).
Hope it helps,
George Jucan
Saving Changes...
Gabrielle MaherPMO Consultant| IndependentLondon, London, United Kingdom
Hi Peter
I would also add that to align IT and business - you need to have a business and an IT strategy first before you can start any alignment. This may seem obvious - but that is a start block.!
You start with aligning your strategies - IT and business. Then you can start identifying desired outcomes and commission programmes of work - business and IT changes required.
