01 September 2014

Is the business the weakest link in the IT value chain?

Here are six questions that identify business responsibilities that are often less mature than their IT equivalents and therefore need attention to prevent them from being the weakest link in the value chain.

  • If the IT department identifies new technological developments, who identifies the opportunities to apply them to innovate the business?
  • If the IT department builds solutions, who identifies demand and specifies requirements?
  • If the IT department runs the information systems, who ensures that they are used effectively and efficiently?
  • If the IT department manages the service level agreement from a provider’s perspective, who manages the contract as the IT department’s customer? 
  • If the IT department’s Business Relationship Manager manages IT’s relationship with the business, who manages the business’ relationship with IT?
  • If the IT department manages the applications and infrastructure, who manages information and technology as business assets?

So how do you score?