Gartner discusses the need for improved alignment in a report published on May 15, 2009, entitled “Integrating the Transformation of Business and IT.” The report states, “Executing an integrated IT and business planning process is a critical business competence that will help companies define how they will move from the current state to some defined end-state view of how they will win and make money.”
The results of a recent survey [1] conducted by Axios Systems shows that organizations appear to be responding to Gartner’s advice, along with that from a number of other industry experts, and are now shifting their priorities. Approximately half of professionals surveyed indicated their priorities in the next year include a focus on improving this strategic alignment.
Axios Systems customer, Nucor Steel Indiana, is an example of an organization that was seeking better alignment between IT and overall business goals. Since implementing Axios’ software solution, assyst, in 2006, the organization has reaped numerous benefits as the two entities (IT and the business) are now working more in tandem. Nucor Steel Indiana has achieved a consistent progression towards IT and business alignment by enhancing its trending analyses, improving visibility for management and ensuring reliable service delivery and responsiveness to Requests for Changes (RFCs).
Bill Johnston, IT Supervisor at Nucor Steel Indiana, says “With assyst, we now do a better job of tracking trends and workloads in IT. Items are less likely to fall through the cracks and we deliver RFCs much more consistently. As time goes on, we hope to see IT continually improve its focus on the RFCs that management deems most valuable to the business, which should then translate into more efficient business processes.”
Markos Symeonides, Vice President of Axios Systems, adds “We are pleased to be able to provide software solutions to Best Practice-based companies like Nucor Steel Indiana. It is great to see an organization using assyst in the exact way that we envision it should be used; Nucor Steel Indiana demonstrates an excellent example of how a holistic approach to ITSM with assyst enables IT organizations to provide value to and propel their businesses.”
[1] The study was conducted in June and July 2009 and is based on over 1500 IT professionals from large organizations within North America, Europe and Asia.