Practical Steps for Aligning Information Technology with Business Strategies: How to Achieve a Competitive Advantage [Paperback]

Bernard H. Boar (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471076376 | ISBN-13: 978-0471076377 | Publication Date: December 3, 1994 | Edition: 1

Information Technology

Cutting-edge techniques for equipping your IT organization to meet the challenges of today's business world

Today's leaner, meaner, total quality business organizations look to information technology to provide them with a sustainable competitive advantage. That's why the IT managers who are in greatest demand are those who are well versed in modern strategic planning techniques and capable of developing a dynamic IT organization ever alert to their companies' current and future business needs. Written by an author at the cutting edge of today's IT business strategy revolution, this book offers you a clear, easy-to-implement action plan for reengineering your business's IT organization with an eye to building, sustaining, and expanding a competitive advantage. You will find:
* Charts and templates that an IT staff can customize and use today
* Techniques for overcoming most architecture problems, including a diagramming technique for drawing exceptionally clear blueprints
* An in-depth discussion of business IT alignment
* How to design an internal IT business economy
* Tips on how to get the biggest bang for the buck while optimizing customer service
* Proven techniques that radically improve application development through object-oriented technologies, data servers, and prototyping

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

This extensively illustrated guide offers a thorough analysis of the meaning of strategic alignment between information technology (IT) and business. Presents a penetrating look at the key pressure points--company needs, technological change and competition--that are impacting today's IT manager. Features a complete assessment of the importance of and problems with IT architecture and the presentation of a formal diagramming method (Mulciber) which allows the IT organization to draw nonambiguous, exceptionally clear architecture blueprints. Includes specific suggestions on how to overcome typical barriers blocking the successful reengineering of IT businesses.

From the Back Cover

Information Technology

Cutting-edge techniques for equipping your IT organization to meet the challenges of today's business world

Today's leaner, meaner, total quality business organizations look to information technology to provide them with a sustainable competitive advantage. That's why the IT managers who are in greatest demand are those who are well versed in modern strategic planning techniques and capable of developing a dynamic IT organization ever alert to their companies' current and future business needs. Written by an author at the cutting edge of today's IT business strategy revolution, this book offers you a clear, easy-to-implement action plan for reengineering your business's IT organization with an eye to building, sustaining, and expanding a competitive advantage. You will find:

• Charts and templates that an IT staff can customize and use today
• Techniques for overcoming most architecture problems, including a diagramming technique for drawing exceptionally clear blueprints
• An in-depth discussion of business IT alignment
• How to design an internal IT business economy
• Tips on how to get the biggest bang for the buck while optimizing customer service
• Proven techniques that radically improve application development through object-oriented technologies, data servers, and prototyping

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (December 3, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471076376
• ISBN-13: 978-0471076377
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,992,626 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars comprehensive ...the only missing part is ROI and IT values, May 6, 2000

By 

Simon Samaha - See all my reviews

This review is from: Practical Steps for Aligning Information Technology with Business Strategies: How to Achieve a Competitive Advantage (Paperback)

This is an excellent book for IT leadership who often finds itslef on a different road and cannot justify the value of IT. Unless IT is perfectly aligned with the company strategy this value is never there. This book shows you how to do it...how to align yourself. What is missing are some lessons in showing or developing ROI in IT projects.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bridging business strategy and IT planning: a clear guide, August 28, 2003

By 

Govindan Nair (Vienna, VA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Practical Steps for Aligning Information Technology with Business Strategies: How to Achieve a Competitive Advantage (Paperback)

It was about the time this book was written in 1994 that I was facing a difficult time trying to articulate the relationship between business strategy and use of information technology, and the complex set of issues of alignment between the two. I was involved in the complex restructuring of a central bank in an African country and my need to explain these issues to central bankers made my job even more complex.

This book opened my eyes. Even as business thinking and technology have evolved tremendously since this book was published, I still find this text one of the clearest and most concise guides on this subject. The author's approach is highly structured and supported by excellent graphics and charts and he eschews the use of jargon in favor of more straightforwad language.

The strength of the book is its achievement of the difficult balance between business and technolgy issues. Even the concept of strategy is concisely explained with an excellent review of different "schools of strategy." The chapters on technology will definitely seem outdated to many, and the lack of discussion of the Internet and multimedia will be especially striking to a reader today. But this is less important if your interest is to see how to present the issue of alignment between business strategy and technology. The penultimate chapter on management philosophy and style quotes from Machiavelli and Sun Tzu and reminds us that all this technology is really about achieving straegic advanatge and business gain. It is too easy to miss the forest (strategic vision and goals) when the trees (technology tools) become the focus.

I have many other books on similar subjects, but find myself returning to this one whenever I seek inspiration on how to present the issue of effective alignment. It is full of practical straight talk in an area which has unfortunately fallen prey to hype and obfuscation. An illustrative quote from this book: "Clarity is hampered by colloquial definitions of the words. Therefore, we must take some time to uncover what strategic alignment between I/T and the business really means."