New CIO article -- To talk or not to talk about alignment

I am somewhat dismayed with some of the particulars in the article “The State of the CIO 2008” by Kim S. Nash. The author urges CIO’s to “Forget alignment”, and “Stop Talking about Alignment”. See the article and get a free extended report at: Other quotes include, “I don’t talk about aligning customer service operations with the business”, and “The CFO doesn’t talk about financial alignment with the business. So why say ‘align IT and the business?”

Well, a number one rule is – you do what you say and do what you measure. Consequently, not talking about alignment is tantamount to not doing alignment. Furthermore, all support functions do and must align with the business. Finance must align with the business – it certainly can’t use a chart of accounts that is not aligned with the business. Marketing must align with the business – it certainly can’t spend advertising dollars on something the business is not doing. Human Resources must align with the business – it certainly can’t hire brain surgeons to build rockets. The same is true for IT --- it must align with the business it is supporting.

Of all the support functions of the business, IT is the most uniquely positioned to have the greatest impact on the profitability of the business because it supports not just one function, but every aspect of the business. Every function of the business has some different and unique responsibility with regard to the achievement of the business strategic plan (goals). IT (in addition to its own goals to achieve the strategic plan such as develop the IT infrastructure) has a role in aiding each and every one of the individual business functions in achieving their portion of the strategic plan. Thus when IT is aligned with the business, it leverages every function (including operations – the builder of the product, provider of services, etc) in its fulfillment of its business goal responsibilities. No wonder IT has such a large impact on profitability and profit margin.

The same is true of innovation and ROI. These are important concepts the CIO must keep in the forefront of his/her mind, actions, activities, goals, and focus. Not talking about it or “forgetting about it” is a good way for each and every function (not just IT) to fail.

The data in the article is good, the opinions expressed by the author are questionable at best and certainly unsupported by any data contained in either the article or in the extended report.

What do you think?