272 Aligning IT with Business Aligning information systems and business goals is fundamental to the success of an enterprise. Chief executives officers ask their chief information officers (CIOs), Do we have the right IT? How do we know? How can we best align our business with our technology systems? Inf ormation technology research and advisory firm Gartner highlights this issue in a report called “Getting the Right IT: Using Business Models.” Gartner asserts that the Business Model Canvas is a powerful tool that helps CIOs quickly grasp how a business works without getting bogged down in operational details. Gartner recommends that CIOs use the Business Model Canvas to align IT and key business processes. This helps them align business and IT decisions without diving too deeply into tactical issues. We find it useful to pair the Canvas with an Enterprise Archi- tecture approach. Many of the various Enterprise Architecture concepts describe the enterprise from three perspectives: the busi- ness perspective, the applications perspective, and the technology perspective. We recommend using the Canvas to guide the business perspective, then align the business with the applications and tech- nology perspectives. In the application perspective, you describe the portfolio of applications that leverage aspects of your business model (e.g. recommendation systems, supply chain management applications, etc.) and you describe all the business model’s information require- ments (e.g. customer profiles, warehousing, etc.). In the technology perspective you describe the technology infrastructure that drives your business model (e.g. server farms, data storage systems, etc.). Authors W eill and Vitale propose another interesting way to explore IT alignment. They pair categories of IT infrastructure service with business models. Weill and Vitale propose aligning business models with application infrastructure, communications manage- ment, data management, IT management, security, IT architecture, channel management, IT research and development, and IT training and education. On the opposite page w e’ve brought these elements together in a graphic to help you pose some fundamental questions regarding business and IT alignment. bmgen_final.indd 272 6/15/10 6:01 PM