Business and IT folks are getting along just fine, says a recent report, and e-business projects have helped foster those ties.
A study of 253 large IT organizations by Arlington, Ma.-based Cutter Consortium found the majority of those doing e-business have good to excellent alignment between their e-business and IT strategies.
Of those surveyed, 28 per cent said their e-business and IT strategies were completely aligned, 24 per cent said they were moderately aligned and 19 per cent said they were somewhat aligned. Five per cent said their strategies were completely unaligned.
When it came to sponsorship of the company’s e-business initiatives, 34 per cent said that sponsorship came from the CEO/COO level and 24 per cent said it came from the IT department, while the business operating unit and marketing/sales accounted for 19 per cent and 15 per cent of the sponsorship, respectively.
Chris Pickering, senior consultant with Cutter, said the results contrast quite a bit with how alignment is usually rated, but said the adoption of e-business solutions is improving business and IT alignment in general.
CEO, COOs, marketing, business operating units and other non-IT departments sponsored 76 per cent of e-projects among respondents, and Pickering said that sponsorship means more project funding.
“The key to good alignment is to have business and IT folks work together,” he said. “There’s no mechanistic fix and no substitute for personal relationships.”