Part I: The BusinessTechnology Disconnect


"The study of error is not only in the highest degree prophylactic, but it serves as a stimulating introduction to the study of truth."

Walter Lippman

Imagine for a moment that you want to build your dream house. After some research, you select Janet, a prominent architect, and Robert, a respected contractor, for the job. To kick things off, you invite them over to your apartment to discuss the project. After brief introductions and some cursory small talk, the three of you sit down at the kitchen table and get to work:

YOU: As the two of you know, I'm interested in building a house.
THEM: [Nodding]
YOU: Not just any house. My dream house.
THEM: [More nodding]
YOU: For years now I've been picturing this house in my mind, so I know exactly what I want. First, it's got to feel like home. I'd like a breakfast nook, a whirlpool tub in the master bathroom
THEM: [Jotting down notes]
YOU: a deck off the family room. And a dramatic two story entrance , of course. Also, I just love our neighbor's fireplace
THEM: [Scribbling furiously]
YOU: So what do you think?
THEM: [Pause]
JANET: It sounds to me like you'd love the colonial revival style. We could include a portico with ionic columns , and a dentil band to add an air of sophistication
YOU: A "dentil" what?
ROBERT: And I know an importer who gets beige breccia marble direct from Karnezeika
YOU: "Karne"-where?
JANET: and a hipped roof
ROBERT: cantilever walls in the family room
JANET: with sidelights and transoms
ROBERT: tensile strength, ASTM A615

At this point, you're probably lost. Or, at the very least you feel like you're no longer in charge of the conversation. How does all of this technical jargon relate to your vision of a dream house? What do "tensile strengths" and "dentil bands" have to do with "feeling like home"?

The problem here is common: you've hired two skilled associates who instinctively view the project from their own specialized perspectives ”which you definitely don't share. But despite all of this, you're still the boss, and you need to figure out a way to make sure that everybody comes together to achieve your vision ”no matter how limited your architectural and structural engineering vocabulary may be.

But not to worry. Architects and builders have faced this problem as long as they've been building for style as well as for shelter. To help communicate issues and align their expertise, Janet and Robert will follow an established approach that helps them to collaborate and ultimately, to capture the design for your dream house in the form of an architectural blueprint. The three of you will then use this blueprint to bridge the gaps between their technical knowledge and your general objectives: Janet could point out the portico and the simple yet elegant design of its ionic pillars; Robert could explain how advanced structural engineering allows continuous open spaces throughout multiple rooms; and you could envision what it would be like to actually live in the home. Without this approach, designing your house would mean ceding control over the project to Janet and Robert; the end result would presumably look impressive and be structurally sound, but there would be no way to ensure that it matched your vision of a dream house.

Now let's revisit this scenario, but with a twist. Picture the same scene, with you, Janet, and Robert sitting at your kitchen table. Imagine a Hollywood-style special effect in which that scene morphs into another. Instead of being a prospective homeowner , you've become a senior business executive. And instead of building a house, you're managing a corporation.

Your company is an aggressive market leader, quick to adopt the latest tools and practices to achieve competitive advantages. In recent years this has meant embracing technology to provide the infrastructure you need to do business. To plan, deploy, and manage these IT investments, you've hired Janet (now a high- powered consultant) and Robert (now a respected CIO). Like before, the three of you are sitting together at a table ”but now it's in a corporate boardroom rather than in your kitchen:

YOU: As the two of you know, we're beginning a project to get closer to our customer base.
THEM: [Nodding]
YOU: This project has been in the works for some time now, so I've got a pretty good idea of the things we need to accomplish.
THEM: [More nodding]
YOU: First we're interested in improving customer segmentation. This means we'll have to gather information across all of our customer touch points
THEM: [Jotting down notes]
YOU: and analyze this raw data. Also, we'd like to automate some field support activities and maybe do something with our call center
THEM: [Scribbling furiously]
YOU: So what do you think?
THEM: [Pause]
ROBERT: This sounds like a CRM installation to me
JANET: with analytics
ROBERT: maybe WAP
YOU: Huh?
JANET: and load balancing
ROBERT: distributed architecture

Once again, things seem to have spiraled out of your control, from business subjects you understand and appreciate ”"customer base" and "segmentation" ”to the arcane technology details required to implement your vision ”"CRM," "WAP," and "load balancing."

In our dream house scenario, you (the homeowner) were able to rein in the project by collaborating with the architect and contractor to produce an architectural blueprint. Inexplicably however, most companies don't employ an analogous approach to help you (the executive) visualize scenarios and incorporate domain knowledge in order to overcome a similar dilemma: the business/technology disconnect.

In This Part

As any researcher will tell you, the first step towards a conclusion is framing the proper question. So that's what Part I: The Business/Technology Disconnect does. Before introducing an approach to solve the disconnect, it first has to demonstrate that the problem itself is big and bad enough to warrant your attention. Part I does this by presenting real-world evidence that shows how the disconnect manifests itself in the enterprise. Then, it makes the jump from problem to solution by tracing the evolution of IT, identifying several emerging challenges, and showing how Business Technology Management, or BTM, can help to overcome these challenges and bridge the business/technology disconnect.



The Alignment Effect. How to Get Real Business Value Out of Technology
The Alignment Effect: How to Get Real Business Value Out of Technology
ISBN: 0130449393
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2001
Pages: 83
Authors: Faisal Hoque

flylib.com © 2008-2017.
If you may any questions please contact us: flylib@qtcs.net