IT-Business Alignment: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

IT-business alignment has been the focus for top managers in the last two decades. Literature reported IT-business alignment as one of the key enablers for the success of IT in an organization. Given its importance, this study aimed at exploring the reported benefits of IT-business alignment, the proposed methodologies and the challenges in implementing these models. To do so, a systematic literature review was conducted to find answers to these questions. This study reveals that applying IT in an appropriate and timely way, in harmony with business strategies, goals and needs can result in plenty of benefits for an organization. These benefits include enhanced cooperation among members, competitive advantage, performance enhancement, high return on investment, facilitation of processes and growth among others. In fact, IT today is not only a tool but has become a business enabler delivering values for organization and this implies that huge investment on IT must be well managed and controlled in order to align IT with business. Also, the study reviewed some proposed methodologies or models that have contributed in achieving sustained alignment between business and IT. Lastly, the study reveals that, despite the inevitable benefits, there are still some difficulties or challenges organizations faced in establishing an atmosphere of honesty and humility between IT and business. These challenges are lack of effective communication, low return on IT investments, lack of the necessary skills to adapt to changes in technology or conflicting priorities.