Is an alignment between business and information technology the appropriate paradigm to manage IT in today’s organisations?

Abstract

For many years practitioners and academics have tried to answer the question of how to strategically align the objectives of information technology (IT) and business and their delivery. A strategic alignment model (SAM) has been developed and improved over the years. This model was originally developed in the 1980s when the business environment was more stable. However, owing to major market changes SAM no longer provides companies with the much‐needed answers. The alignment concept is about a sequential development of strategies and a sequential operationalisation. Unfortunately, now that reliance on IT has increased to the level where a lack of IT agility and responsiveness can create a competitive disadvantage, the sequential model is too slow. This article promotes a notion of fusion. Today’s chief information officers are increasingly becoming company strategists who help their chief executive officer colleagues to steer companies. Business and IT strategies have to be developed simultaneously and implemented simultaneously. The conclusions of this article are based on practitioner views and experiences.

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