New Meaning to it Alignment

Abstract

One of the perennial top issues in surveys of IT management concerns is IT alignment. It always seems to be in the top-ten, but cyclically rises to number-one at times of economic decline. When the economy turns down, information services departments are called upon to redouble their vigilance on spending and to focus their attention on projects and initiatives that are in line with the near-term objectives of the overall business. the enterprises that have developed collaborative management processes between the business and information services organizations do this best and with the least amount of disruption. in fact, it seems that there has been tremendous progress in the past ten or fifteen years in terms of leadership and management practices on the part of both business and information services organizations that have contributed to a dramatic improvement in the handling of downward economic adjustments. Upward economic change, on the other hand, poses more perplexing challenges.