Discussions about IT and Business alignment are often about closing a certain gap, one that was “opened” in an earlier stage. The question is how did your company get in that situation? Why was there such a gap? And more important; is there really a gap, or are we talking about different views on the complexity of your business. And, how do we solve this?

Alignment should be a continuing management topic. Perfect alignment should be about applying the same rules for any management area. That means applying the same principles for both business management and IT management. As if they were in the same (investment) portfolio, managed by the same investment manager.

This could be done by having both departments listen to a set of shared principles and understand that the same rules will have different impact for different departments. A human resource department could hire new employees on bases of certain ideas. For example -- to start always hiring new employees from a pool of flex workers -– (wo)manpower -– Once there is a real need and once the flex worker fits the profile, the flex worker receives a permanent contract. Try first buy later.

The same kind of rule for an ICT department will have a complete different impact. You can start with a third party to offer a specific system. And once you are confident with the features of the system you could buy it and adapt it to changing needs. If the system however doesn't agree any longer with the company needs, you need to rearrange a lot of issues. What system will you use instead? How do you migrate from one situation to another, etc.

IT issues do normally have a long term impact. Sales is about current targets, here and now. There is not much to align about these two, They represent different elements of the whole organisation.

Even if your (IT) organisation is perfectly aligned at one moment, you could have a problem later on. People and systems obey to the same kind of rules, but behave differently.

When you are dealing with an alignment issue, make sure that you communicate the differences in profiles and characteristics of different type of resources. Closing the gap is about communication and mutual understanding.

© 2006 Hans Bool

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days. You can apply for a free demo account

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