Chapter 2. Approaching a Solution

The disaster stories from the previous chapter should debunk once and for all the myth that the business/technology disconnect is just a figment of the imagination for business journalists and industry analysts. Clearly, professionals need a solution to fix the catastrophic losses, failed projects, and missed deadlines that the disconnect causes.

But, as any medical researcher would no doubt tell you, recognizing a disease and coming up with a cure are different propositions entirely. To get from a problem to a solution, you often need to view the present through the discerning lens of the past. For BTM, this means understanding IT's evolution from a purely tactical exercise in its earliest days, to a full-fledged strategic partner with its counterparts in the business. As the function changed, aligning business and technology ”a responsibility that had been second tier ”became progressively more important and introduced new challenges for the IT department. By addressing these challenges the principles, activities, and governance that make up BTM help to align business and technology and to avoid real-world disconnects like those presented in Ch. 1.