The current pace of digital transformation demands that technology moves quickly to address existing and evolving business needs. Even today, however, across many organizations, tech teams may not have full visibility into what the business is doing – or where it is going – and business teams think IT professionals are busy repairing systems and troubleshooting problems. Having a strong foundation in IT is not just about implementing the latest innovations: it is about ensuring IT-business alignment. Read on for a few tips on how you can enable successful IT-Business alignment and match the pace of technology transformation to business transformation within your organization.
What is IT-Business Alignment?
IT-Business alignment bridges the silos between business and IT teams and allows teams to have a better understanding of the role technology plays in the overall growth and success of the business. Rather than looking at IT as a cost center, the alignment allows for technology to be viewed as a strategic enabler that aids in the decision-making process across the business spectrum: from security and investments to governance and policies.
Since every enterprise today depends substantially on technology to run the business, IT-Business alignment ensures technology is infused into the core business strategy. It also makes it easy for businesses to closely align the technology department’s objectives with the business goals of the organization, leading to an enterprise-wide strategy that perfectly serves the needs of all stakeholders while improving business agility and driving greater innovation.
Why is IT-Business Alignment Important?
Proper IT-Business alignment allows the business strategy to drive decisions and priorities for IT investment and IT capability to enable innovative and competitive business strategies. Instead of operating business teams and technology teams in silos, it brings business and IT together and bridges the business-technology chasm, allowing enterprises to drive process innovation, operational excellence, and competitive advantage. When done right, IT-Business alignment can:
Improve Business Effectiveness
When organizations invest in advanced technology systems, the focus is generally on improving efficiency or reducing costs. Sadly, the focus on business effectiveness often gets lost in the process. IT-Business alignment allows IT to be integrated with the overall business goals of the organization, helping drive real and tangible business results.
Keep up with Evolving Customer Needs
Technology alignment with the business makes it easy for the IT team to act as a single point of contact for all technology-related requests that are in turn constantly measured against business goals. By reducing friction at each customer touchpoint, organizations can make it easier for customers to access information, make a purchase, or reach out for help.
Centralize Decision-making
Technology-business alignment also plays a critical role in centralizing business decision-making. Technology and business teams together can bridge traditional silos, improve visibility into business operations, and build strategies and frameworks that work in the best interest of the organization.
Curtail Business Risks
Another major benefit of aligning IT goals with business goals is in the form of reduced financial and operational risks. When IT and business teams work together, they are better positioned to adapt to emerging trends, respond to changes with necessary solutions, and maintain enterprise momentum – all while mitigating risks along the way.
Minimize Costs
IT-Business alignment also helps in minimizing costs. Because tech teams are well-aware of what the business is trying to achieve, they can uncover ways to optimize systems and processes, improve productivity and efficiency, and reduce costs while also uncovering additional revenue-generating opportunities.
How Do You Achieve IT Business Alignment?
As technology continues to transform the way companies run their business, communicate with customers, and deliver products and services, aligning it with the larger business purpose is a great way to enhance efficiency, agility, and performance. If you are looking to integrate and align technology within your operational structure, here are 4 steps you need to take:
1. Evaluate
The first step in the IT-Business alignment process is making an objective assessment of your current business and technology culture. Such an evaluation early in the process can help identify gaps and potential areas of improvement. It can provide insight into how your departments currently interact with each other and the steps you can take to create a better alliance between traditionally siloed teams.
2. Communicate
Establishing proper and frequent communication between business and IT teams helps in getting a proper understanding of what efforts need to be put in to compete and innovate. Regular communication can allow teams to be on the same page while empowering them to drive sustained efforts towards tasks that are strategically aligned to top-level company goals.
3. Moderate
Since the process of tech-business alignment can bring about numerous changes, it is important to constantly monitor progress for best results. Make sure to strengthen your change management game, so you can seamlessly introduce improvements and changes into existing products and services. Adopt frameworks like ITIL to structure your approach to change and maintain the required level of reliability and performance.
4. Validate
In addition to monitoring your efforts toward IT-Business alignment, it is also important to measure the success of your efforts. Quantifying key metrics can help build strategies to improve upon while providing teams with feedback on how they can better facilitate accomplishing common business goals.
Teaming up With a Partner to Achieve IT-Business Alignment
Achieving the goal of business and IT alignment, although critical, is extremely elusive. Not only is the process complex and cumbersome, it also requires a well-planned and well-executed strategy, the right mindset, and the combined effort of expert stakeholders. If you want to get the best results from your IT-Business alignment efforts, you need to team up with a qualified partner who can. A partner like Synoptek can not only ensure individual departments benefit from the alignment, but the organization while inspiring everyone to drive lasting change.
Download the whitepaper on 7 Ways to Effectively Ensure Technology-Business Alignment to know more! Or, feel free to contact us and speak with a member of our team.
