Optimising business architecture maturity for enhanced alignment of business and IT

Abstract

There are several inputs from industry observers of the continued plight of aligning Business with IT. Alignment today is regarded by numerous as one of the most important aspects for successful businesses. It is noted that in the world of business the organisation’s vision does not always successfully translate into executable objectives which are suitably supported by IT. This indicates a lack of Business/IT Alignment, and alignment with business models which results in underutilized potential to improve the value of IT to the organization if the organization is agile and adaptive to change. The alignment of an organization's business strategy and operating models with its business architecture will impact positively on Business/IT Alignment. Such an alignment has a downstream effect on the organization in respect of its ability to make sound decisions regarding IT expenditure. However, the result from this study indicates that the prevailing low level of maturity of the business architecture practice, and the lack of effective application of business architecture artefacts during operating model design, are negatively impacting the alignment of Business and IT.