Measuring business-IT alignment, framework development and case study results

Information technology has come to play a crucial role in the support, sustainability and growth of organizations. In order to accomplish good value for the organization, IT projects need to be in connection with the business side of the organization. The process of managing and improving this connection is Business-IT alignment. Organizations that have successfully aligned their business and IT outperform organizations that do not, for example by maximizing the return on IT investments and an improved competitive position. However, selecting and prioritizing IT projects present a challenge to IT managers. For a number of years already, Business-IT alignment is regarded by IT executives as one of their key issues. Much research has been carried out on Business-IT alignment. This has resulted in different models of alignment factors, different approaches to measure and communicate alignment in enterprises. The objective of this paper is to develop a conceptual basis for alignment measurement on the basis of the existing models. This paper will present the development of a conceptual Business-IT model of five alignment factor categories. These categories are: Intention and Support, Working Relationship, Shared Domain Knowledge, IT Projects and Planning, and IT Performance. The conceptual model has been made operational by identifying measures and measurement scales. To validate the alignment factor measurement model a case study has been carried out at five organizations operating in the financial sector in The Netherlands. The final objective is to improve the communication in enterprises between business and IT professionals on alignment and subsequently the selection and prioritization of IT projects.