The development of a framework to achieve alignment between information technology (IT) and business objectives while adhering to it governance principles

[摘要] ENGLISH SUMMARY : Information technology (IT) is developing at an accelerated rate, making it virtually impossible to separate business and IT strategy. The rate, scope and impact of recent technological advances has led to the fourth industrial revolution which is characterised by the exponential rate of technological developments, its global impact on most industries, and its significant influence on how companies are doing business today. In order to gain and maintain a competitive advantage, companies are forced to stay abreast with new information technology and its impact on not only their own companies, but also their competitors and the industry in which they operate.Due to pervasive implementation, IT can no longer be viewed in isolation. The IT strategy of a company has to be integrated with its overall business strategy in order for IT to add value to a company. It is important that both senior management and IT specialists be engaged in the design, implementation and revision of IT solutions in order for IT to assist in meeting strategic objectives while maintaining a competitive advantage. Miscommunication between business and IT managers is a major contributing factor to IT projects failing to deliver the desired value. This concept is known as the IT gap. Many companies currently follow an unstructured approach towards the implementation of IT solutions due to the IT gap.The purpose of this study is to develop a tool that can be used by companies to bridge the IT gap by aligning business and IT objectives. The author proposes the development of a framework which can be used by companies to achieve alignment between their IT and business objectives while adhering to IT governance principles.A hypothesis exists that alignment between IT and business objectives can be achieved by defining the key driving forces of a company, known as business imperatives, and designing the IT architecture with the objective of supporting these business imperatives. By validating a list of business imperatives commonly found in companies, the findings of this research validates the aforementioned hypothesis and concludes that business imperatives act as the drivers of a company and should be used as the basis to bridge the IT gap. This has resulted in a framework which provides practical guidance to senior managers of a company to both identify the business imperatives relevant to the company, and assist IT specialists when designing and implementing IT architecture to support these business imperatives. The framework consists of three elements, representing the process necessary for the achievement of strategic alignment between business and IT. Firstly, a list of validated business imperatives are provided, which can be used by senior managers to identify the key driving forces relevant to the company. Secondly, the framework contains the business requirements needed to give effect to these business imperatives and lastly, the potential impact of these business requirements on the IT architecture of a company is discussed.This framework can be used to improve communication between senior managers of the business and IT specialists. This improved communication will ensure alignment between strategic objectives and IT strategy, resulting in the elimination of the IT gap.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University