Those companies that get IT alignment right experience significantly larger business growth than their peers. They also see their IT costs go down. On the hand, many companies fall prey to the IT alignment trap by over aligning and, in turn, introducing more complexity into the organization. These are the findings of a study done by C.R. (Rudy) Puryear and his colleagues at Bain & Co. In early 2007, they surveyed 500 major organizations in North American and in Europe to understand the relationship between getting IT right, and to determine the affect IT alignment has on business growth and performance. The Bain team also did in-depth interviews with about 30 of these organizations.
Drawing from the research findings, Puryear, in this podcast, explains why organizations have become victims of the IT alignment trap and how they can avoid it. He says, "IT really matters. If you get IT right, it can be a critical enabler of business performance, profitability, and growth. On the hand, many organizations find IT to be more of a barrier, than an enabler of business performance and growth. These organizations still haven't reached the right balance of alignment and of effectiveness. If they over align, they most likely will fall into the alignment trap. Instead, they need to step back, understand where they are, to begin to focus on effectiveness, and then to consider alignment.
Bio
C. R. (Rudy) Puryear is the leader of Bain & Company's Global IT Practice, as well as a Bain partner in Chicago. He has more than 25 years of experience advising senior executives about leveraging technology to enable strategic change. Prior to Bain, he was president and CEO of Lante Corporation, a leading eCommerce consulting company, where he managed a successful IPO in February 2000. He also served as Andersen Consulting's (Accenture) global managing partner for eCommerce, and prior to that, was responsible for building and leading the firm's IT strategy practice. Puryear did his undergraduate and graduate studies in computer science at North Carolina State University.
Resources
Perspectives: Rudy Puryear, Bain Consulting
Capability Sourcing at 7-Eleven
Complex IT Will Kill Your Business
Production Credits
Elizabeth M. Ferrarini, Executive Producer
Music by 5AlarmMusic.com
