Are your IT department and the business working at cross purposes? Your organisation isn’t the only one. Many organisations struggle with business–IT alignment: bringing business objectives and technological initiatives into line.
We see that cultural differences, poor communication and a lack of shared goals are often the biggest stumbling blocks. IT is frequently viewed as a separate entity, with its own language and priorities. This leads to misunderstanding and mistrust, causing collaboration to stall and projects to slow down.
Business-IT alignment is the process of directly linking IT and data initiatives to the organisation’s strategic goals. In this way, technology is not merely supportive but a true driver of success.
How to get business and IT on the same page
Discuss each other’s goals and challenges in joint sessions.
Communicate to everyone—from leadership to operations—what you want to achieve together.
Bring business and IT together in multidisciplinary teams.
Aligning data strategy with organisational objectives
Do you want data to truly add value to your organisation? Then it’s wise to align your data strategy directly with your business objectives. Always start by sharpening the organisation’s goals. What do you want to achieve—growth, efficiency, customer satisfaction? By taking these goals as your starting point, you determine which data you need and how you will collect and use it.
How to approach this in 3 steps
Jointly define strategic goals and priorities for which you want to use data.
Analyse pain points together and how to remove them.
Start delivering data projects that directly contribute to the most important business goals.
Bridging the business-technology gap
How do you ensure that business and technology reinforce rather than oppose each other? We believe in a culture of innovation and openness. By helping business and IT staff speak each other’s language and understand each other’s challenges, more mutual understanding and collaboration emerge.
Practical examples
Business training for IT staff and technology training for business colleagues.
Team rotation (shadowing): spending a few days with each other to better understand the work.
Working with agile teams in which business and IT collaborate daily.
A “process guardian” (for example, a business analyst) who ensures that processes and goals remain aligned.
Creating a common language for cross-functional collaboration
Is your organisation getting stuck due to jargon or miscommunication between departments? Create a common language that everyone understands. Do this by jointly compiling a glossary, explaining technical terms and creating communication plans that are clear to all.
How this works in practice
Avoid jargon and explain technical terms.
Develop a shared visual language (for example, dashboards and infographics).
Draw up a communication plan with clear, aligned messages.
Portfolio management for data initiatives
Stop running isolated data projects that lead nowhere. Real results come from strategic portfolio management. Treat your data initiatives like an investment portfolio—some projects deliver quick wins, others are for the long term.
Tackle it in 3 steps:
Map your entire data landscape – capture all ongoing and planned initiatives.
Assess impact and complexity – systematically analyse which projects deliver the greatest value.
Create a balanced portfolio – combine quick wins (30%), core projects (50%) and innovative experiments (20%).
What’s next? Your roadmap to business-IT alignment
Get started with these five steps:
Start by sharpening your business objectives.
Involve all relevant stakeholders and create shared understanding.
Develop a data strategy that directly aligns with these goals.
Invest in training and communication to bridge the gap.
Set up a governance structure that fits your organisation.
Creating a strategic data plan requires a structured approach. Our data-strategy model helps you gain an overview, spot opportunities and map out challenges.
Do you want to formulate your data strategy and embed it in day-to-day practice within your organisation? We’re happy to help you move from data (strategy) to doing. Schedule an appointment or get in touch.
This article is part of the Dutch e-book “Getting started with your data strategy”. Learn from the valuable insights of our data strategy experts, discover inspiring cases and get started with practical tips.
Eiske worked at Digital Power for over seven years, first focusing on data analysis and later on data strategy. She contributed to developing our standard approach to data strategy and took on the role of strategy consultant and project manager in client projects.
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