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The Alignment Effect How to Get Real Business Value Out of Technology

by: Hoque, Faisal

The Alignment Effect How to Get Real Business Value Out of Technology

by: Hoque, Faisal

ISBN 13:
9780130449399
ISBN 10:
0130449393
Edition: 1st
Format: Paperback
Copyright: 08/23/2002
Publisher: Ft Pr

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The Alignment Effect How to Get Real Business Value Out of Technology > ISBN13: 9780130449399

Summary

The Alignment Effectoffers managers a systematic blueprint for demanding real accountability and bottom-line business results from their IT investments. Using actual case studies, Faisal Hoque introduces Business Technology Management, a comprehensive approach to aligning technology with business objectives, increasing the efficiency of technology investments, and dramatically reducing the financial and operational risks associated with business and technical change.

Author Biography

Faisal Hoque is Chairman and CEO of enamics, Inc., the industry's first provider of a unified software platform for Business Technology Management (BTM). A globally recognized thought leader, innovator, and expert on the complex business technology needs of the Fortune 500, Mr. Hoque developed one of the earliest Net commerce platforms for General Electric (GE) and holds several patents. Hoque is a sought after speaker and author of the internationally acclaimed e-Enterprise.

Special Contributor:

Ryan J. Sheehan
Senior Research Analyst, enamics, Inc.

For additional information please visit:www.enamics.com/alignment-effect

Acknowledgments

Introduction

xix

PART I The Business/Technology Disconnect

Real World Evidence

(20)

Approaching a Solution

(20)

PART II The Principles of BTM

Modeling, Collaboration, Reuse

(32)

PART III The Activities of BTM

The End-to-End Perspective

(16)

Business Model Definition

(20)

Process Optimization

115

(26)

Technology Automation

141

(30)

PART IV Governing with BTM

Direction and Control

171

(24)

Promise to Practice

195

(14)

Conclusion

209

(4)

Appendix

213

(12)

References

225

(6)

Contributors

231

(6)

Index

237

Supplemental Materials

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

Excerpts

Introduction My observations of business and technology over the last 15 years compel me to write this book and to answer this question: Why aren't we getting real business value out of technology? One thing is sure--companies that continue to repeat the mistakes of the past will never reap the rewards of the future. Most companies fail to capitalize on the technologies they already have; and many more are poised to meet this same fate with the next big technology fad spawned in Silicon Valley and propelled by venture capitalists. Whether it's wireless, Web services, or the latest and greatest in nanotechnology, companies will never get value--real or perceived--without first solving the business/technology disconnect. This book will begin by illustrating some of the ways the disconnect can manifest itself in the enterprise. These examples reveal an unequivocal truth: In order to understand, communicate, and plan how they should utilize technology in the enterprise, companies first need to align three key areas--business, process, and technology. But to achieve alignment among these areas requires a fundamentally different approach than those used before--one that brings these disciplines together in a way that all can understand. This approach creates unprecedented visibility into how business and technology decisions are made, and provides the means for tracing decisions back and forth between the two, so that companies can discover and communicate interdependencies. This approach is called Business Technology Management, or BTM. In the pages that follow, the principles, activities, and governance that make up BTM will unfold to provide the structure and the mindset to help any company in any industry get real business value from IT. I am not alone in my views on the disconnect, or in my ideas about what's necessary to solve it. Many chief executive officers (CEOs), chief information officers (CIOs), industry gurus and academics--such as the contributors to this book (some of whom have been grappling with the disconnect since the earliest days of IT)--believe that the time has arrived for companies to adopt a structured approach to aligning business and technology. What's to Come? Whether you accept this premise or not, one thing is obvious: The approaches that companies have been relying upon to close the disconnect aren't getting the job done. So what needs to be different in the way companies go about solving it? To answer this crucial question, the approach should follow several guidelines. First, the approach should view the problem primarily from the perspective of the business. IT has a long history of considering itself an island apart from the rest of the enterprise. But, like every other business function, IT should service the bottom line first, and then its own needs. This doesn't mean that IT is only about dollars and cents; one of the biggest mistakes that companies have made in the past is failing to recognize the intangible benefits that can come from IT--benefits such as improved customer relationships and better communication between business units. The people who are most likely to recognize and advocate these benefits are business professionals, since they are often the end-users of technology. It is a mistake not to get this crucial group sufficiently involved in making decisions about how technology can and should impact the business. If IT is to become focused on the business, this trend needs to change. Second, the approach should focus specifically on the business/technology disconnect, and leave other, more narrowly focused techniques (such as scorecarding or systems design) out of the equation. This means that the solution should zero in on the three key areas that need to be aligned--business, process, and technology--and specifically the connections between