For many years, researchers have drawn attention to the importance of alignment between business and Information Technology (IT). In early studies, this often meant linking the business plan and the IT plan. Another perspective involved ensuring congruence between the business strategy and the IT strategy. Still another has required examining the fit between business needs and information system priorities. These conceptualizations have been enlarged over time and now research recognizes many points of alignment between business and IT.

Early motivation for alignment emerged from a focus on strategic business planning and long-range IT planning in the early 1980s. From a business perspective, planning was characterized as a top-down and a bottom-up process and departmental (e.g., IT) plans were created in support of corporate strategies. From an IT perspective, decisions on hardware and software had such long-term implications that tying them to current and future plans of the organizational unit was a practical necessity.

The business and IT performance implications of alignment have been demonstrated empirically and through case studies during the last decade. Simply put, the findings support the hypothesis that those organizations that successfully align their business strategy with their IT strategy will outperform those that do not. Alignment leads to more focused and strategic use of IT which, in turn, leads to increased performance.

Internet: <www.palgrave-journals.com> (adapted).