Creating an Enterprise IT Strategy...

Creating an Enterprise IT Strategy That Aligns with Business Strategy...

Dear Mr. Koch, CIO Editor;

I have tried to conceptualize inner feelings and practices which hinder interaction on projects concerning Enterprise IT Strategic and business process alignment.

The thought led by Boeing experience starts here:

Creating an enterprise IT strategy that aligns with the business strategy of the company

It is a cloudy and hard road to take when your CIO/CTO alignment is in the hands of CFO’s who have not graduated beyond their expertise of financial granularity, yet to embrace, the expansive vision of practicing CIO’s.

CIO’s are not IT Systems specialists-these are your IT Managers, etc.

Thought-creative, innovative and business intelligent, built on the premises that a Governance team/group/board has formed, will form and is functional. Functional in terms of individual abilities to be far-reaching and visionary, by using and understanding IT as a business medium which supports business value and its core functions.

To miss these values, actually flags the enterprise and governance team for failure. Network infrastructure, is a core competency unto its self but not the enterprise. The enterprise is survival-it is profit and cash flow(s). IT is supportive in nature-to bring about change within digital process alignment through management strategy which tactically supports business processes in all business divisions and units.

The lesson here: ability to create an eager group, which implements an honest exchange of information. An IT Enterprise Strategy is in actuality an exercise for making IT Strategy visible to the CEO, CFO and COO. When they themselves, are eager and claim the project, vision, and strategy as their own-we all win in this enterprise. This is the only top responsibility of an aggressive and thought-provoking CIO.

This requires trust, golf, boating, smiling, knowledge, architects, and the ability to forge ahead with excellent RFI's, RFP’s, and RFQ's through collaborative partnerships with suppliers, and the business units IT vision.

No more-no less.

Best Regards,

Lyle K’ang, MBA/IM

IT Business/CTO Consultant
http://www.SiloManagement.blogspot.com

Chicken and Egg

Readers Viewpoint
Chicken and Egg
Posted: MAR 21, 2005 11:01:50 PM http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=3266

Enterprise Architecture must belong to an IT Emerging Technology group that has real interest from all the ’C’s.

The interesting inclusion of this practice is to have an ’IT Network Infrastructure Business Systems Manager’ belong and interface with these groups to teach business strategy and IT convergence together.

When technical groups meet cross-functional business groups, teaching begins. Architects’ step in and teach high-level thinking and process. Business Systems Managers teach process management to shore-up and encourage IT/IS specialists to think in broader terms-not only in granular functions.

Enterprise Architects’ then align their thinking to business processes and the CEO, albeit the Governance Board. CIO and CTOs belong to the Governance team. CIOs are asked more and more to think outward, concerning strategic and convergence alignments that equate well to CFOs and COOs responsibilties.

In a nut shell, these are the individuals that need direction in understanding what business they are in-core competencies, and ever-expansive excercises which the CIO/CTO bring to a Business/Governance Board.

It starts-by understanding the business units requests, the business of the enterprise and the ability to educate, soft skills included, everyone up and down, and through lateral points, while significantly calling for process alignment to eliminate and weaken, silo management (stove pipe) practices.

Lyle K’ang, MBA/IM
IT Business/CTO Consultant

VENTURE & ANGEL FUNDING

Many of you out there would like to be funded and not by the traditional banker.

What I need is a Paul Allen; http://capital.vulcan.com/
or equally astute and ethical person to find a business interest with my project.

Without an interest from a Paul Allen, Angel funding and Venture Capital would be not as exciting for a $160M U.S.D. project.

What do you think?