Avoid the IT alignment trap
Have a look at Avoid the IT alignment trap, an article by Bain employees Steve Berez, Vivek Gambhir and Amit Sinha.
My reaction: I agree that IT-business alignment is not the solution. I also agree that an IT
department lacking in engineering and operational discipline will fail to meet
the users’ needs. But even IT departments that get their act together will still
under perform if they focus on alignment. My interpretation of business-IT
alignment is buyer-seller. A well aligned IT function does what it is told and
does it well.
I believe we need to
move beyond alignment to entwinement. In other words the IT function must
influence business strategy as much as the users. This is a key way of moving IT
as a subject for consideration under the title cost management to being a tool
for innovation.