How to Start a Productive Conversation About Business and IT Alignment

There is one phrase that has echoed through IT organizations for at least the last two decades:

“You should more closely align IT with the business needs.”

While some IT departments have mastered this business and IT alignment, many still struggle with what it means and how to execute. As an IT professional or manager, you may have been told to “engage and talk with your peers in the business” to get a better understanding of their needs and strategies. How many of us have had those meeting requests avoided because our business partners were not sure what they wanted either?

How awkward is that hallway conversation, or how quiet does the meeting room get when you declare that you want to support enhance business and IT alignment, so could they please “tell you what they need?” Instead of moving the discussion forward, this question can stall progress when the business is not yet ready.

It is always a more productive conversation when you can go to your peers in the business with a starting proposal and then have them modify from there, together. But how are you supposed to know how to build that initial proposal without looking crazy or out of touch with the business as they see it?

One way to be able to get a deeper understanding of what the business needs is to understand where the organization’s products and services, as well as the organizational culture itself, sit on the Technology Adoption Curve. Different inflection points on that curve imply different priorities and needs that can be leveraged to start the conversation.

In this White Paper, we will review how to have that conversation between IT and the business. You will learn how to map your company against the Technology Adoption Curve, and the impact of IT finance and Service costs, and how they relate to IT metrics.

Be sure to read “How to Start a Productive Conversation About IT/Business Alignment” today!