Business IT Alignment Checklist

Following is a checklist to ensure that you hit the mark as you work through the process of aligning IT with your overall business objectives.

1. Identify business drivers

 Assess which business objectives require IT enablement (e.g., new product, acquisition of another company, etc.)

2. Create IT vision

 Document the general guidelines or policy that guides the ideal way in which IT decisions will be made and the IT organization will operate. Include culture and, management style.

3. Identify the IT capability required to meet business priorities in the following areas:

 Strategy

 Process

 Infrastructure

 Organization

4. Access current alignment of the IT capability with the envisioned IT capability in these three areas:

 Investment

 Asset

 Organization

5. Identify alignment gaps in the three areas (investment, asset, organization)

 Identify the root cause of misalignment in each area

 Document the steps to close the gaps

6. Prioritize IT initiatives

 Consider constraints such as capacity, budget, disruption of business and which will deliver the biggest “bang for the buck”

7. Evaluate implementation options

 Use the list of initiatives to create an IT roadmap

 Include feedback from the business side to mitigate unknowns

8. Create migration plan

 Document a plan to include steps, deliverables, responsibility and timing

 Plan with flexibility

To find out more about the importance of IT and business alignment, discover signs your organization might not be aligned and learn the steps to alignment, download The Challenge: Aligning IT with Business Objectives infographic.