Theory or Instinct?

Cindy SeibelExecutive Associate, iQ Management Corporation

www.iQManagement.ca

Building the Right Relationship with the Business

About iQ Management

Change, risk, governance, investment and business alignment, we do well at supporting our clients to succeed

• Executive & Business Transformation Leadership

• Executive & Board Advisory – Planning, Governance & Support

• Enterprise Architecture Advisory & Leadership

• Innovation & Emerging Technologies Leadership

About iQ Management

iQM Engagement Model• Our advisory model is tried tested and true – MetaGroup history • Our clients appreciate our open & flexible services framework• The renewable service model governs itself • Ensures highest degree of ongoing support for the client year after year • Onsite visits and structured sessions or meetings as the client requires

 

iQM Client References

Government, Health, Education, Ministries, Utility, Transportation, Regulators, Municipalities, Telecom, High-Tech, Finance, Insurance and more, representing IQM client work in Canada with our partners since 2004 .

We enjoy a renewal rate of over 85% year over year with our clients, the highest level of clients satisfaction within the industry.

 

Portions of this work are licensed by the author under the Creative Commons

Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

To view a copy of this license, visit

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/.

GETTING IT RIGHT

As an IT professional you cannot rely solely on best practices to be successful with your business partners. Doing it right is not enough.

You want to build the RIGHT relationship with the business.

The Buzzwords

Alignment

IT Engagement

Business-IT Relationship

Alignment

Alignment addresses both how IT is in harmony with the business, and how the business should, or could be in harmony with IT. Alignment evolves into a relationship where the function of IT and other business functions adapt their strategies together. Achieving alignment is evolutionary and dynamic.

• Jerry LuftmanSchool of Management Stevens Institute of Technology

Source:

http://www.sba.oakland.edu/faculty/lauer/downloads/mis625/readings/IT-Business%20Alignment.pdf

Business-IT Relationship

A social contract, built over time and from which both the IT and business participants contribute and stand to benefit.

Source:http://togethertech.info/BIT_BusinessITRelationships/BIT_01.php

Business-IT Engagement

Business-IT Engagement is a measurable degree of a business executive’s positive or negative emotional attachment to their IT capabilities, IT colleagues and IT organization that profoundly influences their willingness to participate in the use of IT for business value.

Source:http://vaughanmerlyn.com/tag/business-it-engagement/

IT Engagement Model

The system of governance mechanisms that ensure business and IT projects achieve both local and company-wide objectives.

Source: Fonstad, Nils, and Robertson, David: Engaging for Change: An Overview of the IT Engagement Model, CISR Research Briefing, Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), March 2005.

BEST PRACTICES ARE

NECESSARY

but

INSUFFICIENTFOR SUCCESS

Assessing the IT Personality of Your Organization

Success requires you understand and implement best practices according to the IT Personality of your organization.

Assessment Questions

• What is the lifecycle of business asset creation?

• Does the business lifecycle match the IT asset lifecycle?

• Does the business lifecycle match the IT process lifecycle?

Assessment Questions

• What is the business risk tolerance?

• Does the business risk tolerance align with the IT risk tolerance?

Assessment Questions

• What role does IT play in the organization?

• Is it the core business?

• Does IT support the business?

• Is IT perceived as a necessary evil in the business?

• Is IT integral to the business (i.e. the business cannot function without its IT systems)?

Your IT Personality

Adapt your practice to match the unique IT Personality of your

organization.

The Four Myths of the IT-Business Relationship

Myth #1• If everyone knows the expected outcomes and expected

business results, then we will have successfully communicated.

Myth #2• If there is a business strategy that includes technology,

then we are aligned.

Myth #3• If there is a business vision, then IT will know what needs

to be done.

Myth #4• If IT would stop communicating in Three Letter Acronyms

and IT labels, then good communication would follow.

Busting the Myths

Myth #1

If everyone knows the expected outcomes and expected business results, then we will have successfully communicated.

• Knowing the words does not mean that understanding has occurred. Communication requires that leaders interpret or help staff to interpret meaning from their own work vantage point.

Busting the Myths

Myth #2

If there is a business strategy that includes technology, then we are aligned.

• Alignment occurs both in planning and execution. If the strategy mentions technology but not the breadth of characteristics such as risk, lifecycle and role then there is not alignment.

Busting the Myths

Myth #3

If there is a business vision, then IT will know what needs to be done.

• A vision does not describe outcomes. An outcome includes descriptions that allow IT to initiate the dialogue with business.

Busting the Myths

Myth #4

If IT would stop communicating in Three Letter Acronyms and IT labels, then good communication would follow.

• Translating IT jargon to plain language– or business language – is insufficient for communication. What is required is the transformation of ITmeaning to business needs and outcomes.

Getting IT Right The Journey to Successful Business-IT Relationships

• Adapt your practice to consider the IT Personality of Your Organization.

• Adopt a transformative communication style.

• Finally, remember your business partner is a person first! Relationships occur between people.

Cindy SeibelExecutive Associate, iQ Management Corporation

http://www.iQManagement.ca

Email: cindy.seibel@iqmanagement.ca