The importance of aligning IT strategies with business objectives

Information Technology is continuing to challenge the way companies to organize their business processes, communicate with customers and potential customers, and deliver their services. A corporate strategy is the starting point for corporate behavior. It expresses an organization’s ambitions, sets out its chosen direction and describes the principal initiatives and projects necessary to achieve its mission. Business schools, management gurus and strategy boutiques regularly develop new approaches and methodologies for strategy formulation and all acknowledge its overwhelming importance in setting the tone for the organization and its prospects for success (Oracle, 2008).

This continuous strategic loop means enterprises function better, make more profit, and see better ROI because they hit their goals with less effort. And while there may be no standard way to align successfully, an organization where IT and business strategy are in lock-step can improve agility and operational efficiencies. 

These four steps enable the implementation:

Plan: Translate business objectives into measurable IT services, so resources are effectively allocated to maximize turnover and ROI

Model: IT designs infrastructure to increase business value and optimize operations

Manage: Service is delivered based on company objectives and expectations

Measure: Improvement of cross-organization visibility and service level commitments

IT strategy and business alignment concepts are one of the most critical strategies for firms to gain a competitive advantage. An Organization strategy defines the direction the business plans to take, IS strategy ties together the organization's goals, defines the structure of the information essential to achieving these goals and galvanizes the system to support these business goals.

Thus, no organization can effectively use it's IT unless it creates a link between the objectives of the business and the goals of its IT. Linking IT goals and the business objectives enable the organization to invest in the right IT infrastructure and to design and develop the right systems in line with its objectives.

References:

ORACLE (2008) The Challenge of Strategic Alignment: The role of Scorecards & Dashboards in Strategy Execution, 1-14.