Length: 16 pages For CIOs
Laurie M. Orlov June 18, 2007
Debunking Alignment Nirvana
BT Requires IT-Business Synchronization, Not Alignment
by Laurie M. Orlov
with Bobby Cameron, Alex Cullen, Craig Symons, Bo Belanger

This is a document excerptEXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Most CIOs place IT-business alignment at the top of their wish list. They recognize the growing interdependency between business success and technology use. And they worry about the mismatch between what IT does and what business wants. But achieving a state of 100% alignment will no longer be possible — if it ever was — as firms evolve over the next five years toward business technology (BT), the pervasive technology use that drives business results. IT-business alignment will be replaced with BT Synchronization — a continuous balancing of an enterprise level of focus, a networked balance of supply, and a change agent role in the business strategy and processes of the enterprise. Today's CIOs should calibrate their current status and work with their CEOs to achieve BT Synchronization.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

NOTES & RESOURCES

itemCIOS Justifiably Worry About Aligning IT With The Business

itemBusiness Technology Mandates Synchronization, Not Alignment

itemCIOs: Calibrate Where The Firm Is On The Road To BT — Then Act

recommendations

itemThe BT CEO Puts The Money In The Right Place

WHAT IT MEANS

itemThe Boards Of Directors Will Care About BT Synchronization

itemSupplemental Material

Forrester surveyed 162 IT executives and did in-depth interviews with 20 experts and senior executives, Accenture, Babson Schools of Management, Bain, BU, CIO Magazine, CMU, Deloitte, EDS, IBM, McKinsey, and Oxford as well as CIOs of the Australian Broadcasting Company, FedEx, General Motors, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Pictet, Riyad Bank, and ThyssenKrupp.

Related Research Documents

itemBusiness Technology Defined

May 7, 2007

itemMoving From Reactive to Strategic IT

December 27, 2006

itemHow IT Must Shape And Manage Demand

June 15, 2006

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Technology: Governance, Risk, & Compliance, IT Management, Security & Risk, Serving the Business
Geography: Asia Pacific, Europe, North America

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Archived Teleconference:
Why Do CIOs Still Worry About Alignment?
Original air date: Thursday, June 28, 2007
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