Maximizing Business Results from IT investments.

• Align IT services to business goals and initiatives.
• Align IT organizational structures to optimize service delivery.
• Structure IT processes for service delivery and manageability.
• Utilize IT product and service portfolios.

Align IT Services

In any business, shareholder value is maximized when all organizational areas contribute effectively to the same business goals. IT alignment is a management process focused at coupling information technology services to business goals. 

This becomes particularly important when establishing formalized structures for the execution and management of IT projects -- as when establishing a project management office. It can become much easier for new initiatives to become isolated technology silos (instant legacy applications). And production transitions may become even more problematic. (see Production Readiness Assessments)

The alignment process transforms business plans into expressions of required IT services and initiatives.  Technology Strategists can facilitate this process by mapping business plans  into the IT service environment. And by associating IT activities with the business functions they support, organizational disconnects can be identified and addressed.

Align IT Organizational Structures & Processes

Businesses choose to create organizational structures over time to reflect many needs -- including the personalities and capabilities of key players in the business.  As business changes it can be helpful to re-align the internal organization of IT to reflect the strategic objectives and competitive realities of the business. Technology Strategists can help with this process by assisting firms to understand the existing relationships between their business imperatives and IT execution capabilities -- and advise on improving their respective alignment.

Project alignment assessments -- matching objectives with specific or global business goals is helpful in ensuring that IT activities benefit the business. Working the relationship in the other direction -- identifying opportunities for IT to facilitate achievement of business goals, is much more creative. Construction of high level business process models can be helpful in identifying leverage points for further investigation.

Information technology groups may benefit through the use of one or more process frameworks as a yardstick or organizing tool. Frameworks encapsulate industry best practices and characteristics, often in a staged form intended to guide process improvement programs. Software development groups may find the Carnegie-Mellon Software Engineering Institute Capability Maturity Model helpful. Operations groups may be interested in using ITIL or ISO 17799 as tools to ensure that all required services are being delivered appropriately.  Technology Strategists can provide assistance at multiple levels in choosing or applying process frameworks.

One useful alignment tool is to establish an IT metrics program. Suitably designed and selected business and technology metrics can assist management in both operational and strategic decision-making.  Some level of process modeling will be required for all but the most high level performance or workload measurements. Metrics may be specified in choices of process framework or developed through the goal-question-metric methodology.

Utilize Service Portfolios

Technology Strategists can help businesses understand their investments in Information Technology products and services and how effectively these investments are contributing to overall business goals. Service portfolios provide a simplified means to consolidate diverse information technology components -- providing clarity to the management and planning processes.  Technology Strategists can assist organizations in building and understanding their technology portfolios -- and the network of business and technical dependencies these represent.

One common problem with dynamic organizations is that over time their IT portfolios can become fragmented and inappropriately diverse -- strategies of business function-specific IT or point-in-time best of breed technology choices backfires into excessive costs and problematic information exchange.  Portfolio disciplines that routinely test project objectives against the corporate goal hierarchy can be very helpful. Technology Strategists can provide insight and direction to mitigate these problems and advise on longer term solutions.

Service portfolios can be the starting point for many large scale initiatives such as business contingency planning, business relocations or development of a more comprehensive enterprise architecture.

Develop an Enterprise Architecture

 Enterprise architectures provide a succinct and complete description of an organizations' technical and operations capability from the present forwards. EA 'as is' describes the current reality. EA 'to be' describes a future ideal state (which is always subject to change).  EA planning includes the stepwise transition of the organization from 'as is' to 'to be'.  An enterprise architecture provides a holistic view of the business. not just systems and technology -- and should be considered a management discipline rather than just a technologists' tool. Technology Strategists can assist firms seeking to develop an enterprise architecture or evaluating an existing EA program.