Business and IT Alignment Explained + How to Achieve It

It’s no secret that alignment is the golden ticket to an organization’s success. Business and IT alignment, in particular, is paramount. In our tech-dominated era, if your business strategies don’t mesh with your IT approach, you risk losing your competitive edge.

Unfortunately, IT and business alignment is rarer than you might think. According to recent data, only 51% of companies have aligned their business and technology strategies.

If your organization has yet to reach perfect alignment, this guide is for you.

What does business and IT alignment mean?

The alignment of IT and business strategy boils down to a simple concept: integration.

Too often, an organization’s decision-makers and IT professionals are compartmentalized in silos. Business and IT alignment ensures that business leaders collaborate with the IT team to set—and attain—the same goals.

Crucially, this alignment has to go both ways. The business side needs to embrace technological shifts, while the IT side must ensure that systems and infrastructure address the business objectives.

In practice, IT and business alignment means ensuring all technology investments and initiatives support your big-picture strategy.

Benefits of business and IT alignment

When you treat technology as a central part of your organization—and not simply an additional tool—the results are astounding. Some of the benefits of aligning your business and IT operations include:

  • Improved productivity and efficiency – A strategic alignment helps you use your limited resources wisely. If your business priorities are clear to the IT team, they can focus on eliminating any relevant redundancies and streamlining operations.
  • Increased agility – Alignment allows the IT and business departments to react more quickly to changes in the market. There’s no longer a need to debrief on the impact of shifting customer needs or innovations—both halves of the equation already understand what needs to happen next.
  • Enhanced customer experience – Data collection is fundamental to a tech-enabled business strategy. The more in-depth customer data you have, the more you can personalize their experience, boosting loyalty and retention in the process.
  • Better risk management and security – To the IT team, cybersecurity is an indisputable priority. By involving IT in business operations, you ensure every decision is informed by cybersecurity best practices, keeping your organization safe from costly breaches.
  • Reduced costs and increased ROI – Last but certainly not least, alignment can save you money (and make you more). When you have well-defined objectives, your IT department is less likely to over-invest in technology that doesn’t support your revenue-generating goals.

4 steps to reaching business and IT alignment

So, how can you break down the business and IT silos and reach alignment? There are four simple steps.

1. Open up communication

To start, you’ll want to bring your business leaders and IT experts together. Beginning with communication is essential, as both sets of stakeholders need to be involved in the process from the get-go.

Creating a culture of open communication takes time and trust. Meetings, shadowing sessions and “get to know each other” lunches can all help you establish a strong relationship.

2. Assess and set goals

Next, you’ll need to take stock together. How aligned is your organization already? What technology is supporting your needs? What’s not working? With a clear picture of your current status, you can confidently forge ahead.

From there, you’ll want to settle on the business objectives you hope to achieve through collaboration. Are you focused on growth? Customer service? Disrupting the market? Once you understand your goals, you can determine how IT will support them.

3. Take action

Now, it’s time to put your plans in motion. Depending on your objectives, this step could involve:

  • Implementing infrastructure
  • Hiring IT specialists
  • Eliminating unused technologies
  • Training employees on new software

4. Measure your performance, then adapt

Finally, you reach the never-ending cycle of monitoring and managing your strategies. Your goals will inform which key performance indicators (KPIs) you track.

Whatever you measure, use those analytics to make data-informed decisions about your future strategies. Pivot as needed, measure again and repeat. Continuous improvement is the name of the game.

Challenges of business and IT alignment

Despite the evident value of IT and business alignment, many organizations remain out of alignment. Of course, few companies are unaligned by choice. The reality is that bringing together two separate teams is no simple task.

Countless challenges can arise in organizations looking to align their business and IT strategies, including:

Communication struggles

Even in close-knit mid-sized companies, business leaders and IT professionals tend to speak different languages and adhere to different workplace cultures. Bridging the gap between these two silos sometimes requires a talented mediator.

Tech over-stock

Many organizations unknowingly have an excess of software. For instance, subscribers of Microsoft Office have access to numerous specialized tools. Most Office 365 licenses come with features such as chat functions (eliminating the need for a Slack subscription), survey collection tools (making a separate Survey Monkey subscription redundant), video calling (why pay for Zoom?), and more.

Resistance to change

As you likely know, employees can be hesitant to accept changes in policies and practices. This resistance can delay the alignment process or lead to an inefficient, ineffective partnership.

Outdated technology

Sometimes the holdup isn’t philosophical—it’s tangible. Companies running on legacy systems may not have the sophisticated tools they need to align the business properly. It’s no wonder that 80% of organizations believe outdated tech is holding them back.

Overlooking cybersecurity

Many small and medium-sized businesses tend to limit their cybersecurity strategy to installing antivirus software, believing this is sufficient protection. Unfortunately, the range of threats to data and network security has expanded far beyond just viruses.

For this reason, creating a comprehensive security plan that layers different protective measures is crucial, beginning with raising security awareness among staff. It’s important to recognize that employees, despite their loyalty, intelligence, and good intentions, often represent the biggest security risk within an organization.

Reach business and IT alignment with AccountabilIT

These challenges are ever-present, but with the right IT partner, you can meet adversity head-on and successfully align your business and IT strategies.

If you’re ready to bring your business into alignment, AccountabilIT can help. Our team has the decades-long experience and expertise needed to identify and implement the technologies your particular organization needs to meet its goals.

To find out more, get in touch with us today.