How IT Can Save The World

In our day to day working life the pressures of time, information and task naturally lead us to be concerned with the immediate issues on the plate; how to resolve this, make it easier to do that, get better at something else, or even what to do about the job itself.

But there is a huge issue which overshadows every other issue
- at least when it comes to Business and Information Technology (IT).

It's an issue that's right at the top of the Business Agenda and, if it could be resolved, it would affect for the better virtually everyone and every company, if not the national economy.

It has been called the "Holy Grail" of Information Technology in Business, and it's the issue of:
How to get Business & IT truly integrated, aligned and joined up.

By this is meant:
Joined up
Business Needs & Opportunities
with
IT Capabilities & Resources.

If it could be achieved it would lead to significant payback:
1. For people.
2. For your organisation.
3. For the national economy.

If, or perhaps when, this joining up (as it's called here) can be achieved, it will enhance our working lives in the form of reduced stress, enhanced satisfaction, and greater achievement. That is, we'll be able to get things done more effectively, efficiently and enjoyably.

It will make the organisation we work for more cost-effective, profitable, and achieving of its aims. And it will, or at least could, improve if not restore the viability of the national economy itself. Even further, it will enhance the quality of life across society as a whole.

These are grandiose claims! In fact they appear similar to the recent Freudian slip made by the head of government who claimed that financial measures about to be introduced through Parliament would "save the world".

And yet the potential rewards in the microeconomic, macroeconomic and sociological effects of joined-up Business-IT in the aggregate, across the national and international scene, are simply staggering!

Few have been able to see this Big Picture Impact of joined-up Business-IT. Many have instead been bemused or bedazzled by the technology, regardless of its people and business net-benefit.

And some will not be aware that we have a problem
- or an opportunity.

For surveys repeatedly show a huge gulf between the priorities of people and business on the one hand and what IT could contribute on the other. As evidence of this we occasionally learn of big IT failures, even though these are just the tip of the iceberg.

So there are trillions of dollars, euros, and pounds sterling being wasted every year, and thousands upon thousands of lives being negatively impacted.

But, notwithstanding the wonderful advances in IT, the answer is not in new technology, for IT in business is a double-edged sword. It can be a blessing or a curse; it all depends upon how it's developed, managed and used. So what's the answer; how do we get joined-up Business-IT?

The answer is in a holistic approach. That is to say, there is no silver bullet; not in better business process, project management, development methodology, data cleansing, protection against malware, software testing, or whatever. Joined-up Business-IT and its benefits can only be achieved through a holistic approach.

A forthcoming book by the author of this article, The JUMP Model: Joining Up Business and IT, follows upon several years of global research with leading academics, with business leaders , with people 'on the ground', and with feedback from sharing with professional and corporate audiences.

The JUMP Model and its accompanying Process is not a development methodology. It is a holistic, practical, action-oriented approach for getting Business Needs & Opportunities joined up with IT Capabilities & Resources.

As a professorial friend of mine at a leading MBA school said: "So James, do you think you've got this Alignment Thing finally sorted out? My answer: "Well since you ask, yes, I believe I have".

It's the reason why this blog posting is the first for quite a few months; the author has been busy!

P.S.
The photo of the first BlackBerry President of the United States is a supreme example of a non-IT person who has grabbed technology with both hands (or with one hand, at least), and put it to effective use in (a) beating the competition, i.e. getting elected, and (b) doing his job. An examplar for joined-up Business-IT!