Research: How Does IT Funding Affect Alignment?

Aligning IT with corporate strategy is tough, and the results of this year’s CIO Insight survey on the issue show why. More than 80 percent of the 745 IT executives and 543 business executives surveyed say alignment at their companies has improved over the past three years—yet less than 30 percent say their IT organizations meet the needs of their companies very effectively. But the results also hold a key to helping solve the problem: Follow the money. The survey highlighted a number of funding techniques and processes that can help promote better IT alignment. Don’t cap overall IT spending arbitrarily. Make sure your IT budgeting process is flexible and clearly defined, that allocation decisions are well-grounded in strategic performance goals, and that as much of your actual spending as possible is accounted for in the budget. And link the pay of both IT executives and their colleagues on the business side to the successful completion of the IT initiatives they’re involved with. The name of the alignment game is flexibility and collaboration.