User:Hyperides/Draft of Business/IT Fusion

Business/IT Fusion
Author	Peter Hinssen
Language	English
Publisher	.MachMedia
Publication date	2008
Publication place	Belgium
Media type	Print (Hardcover)
Pages	276 pp
ISBN	9789081324236

Business/IT Fusion - How to move beyond Alignment and transform IT in your organization is a business book authored by Peter Hinssen. It promotes a new approach to IT management that moves beyond the old model of business/IT alignment. Where Alignment focused on the collaboration between Business and IT, Hinssen suggests that the future evolution in IT lies in the convergence of the two parties: integrating IT into the business rather than treating it as a supplier i.e. “Business/IT Fusion”. The work is a guidebook to ‘IT 2.0’, offering a roadmap for the journey to completely rethink IT, and transform it into something radically new: a proactive strategic-innovation function.

Concept[edit]

There is a fundamental dilemma in the world of IT: the technical challenges and opportunities have never been greater, but at the same time the role of IT and of the CIO have never been questioned more. In spite of the different models developed over the years designed to improve the trust between business and IT, the situation is worse than ever before. This calls for radical change. A complete repositioning of IT is required, along with the need for a new breed of IT professionals to tackle the challenges.

Business/IT Fusion describes how Fusion can help CIOs and IT Managers through tough economic times by transforming IT into a strategic asset. Fusion is a recipe for business integration and technology-enabled innovation. On the one hand it turns CIOs into business leaders and on the other it injects business savvy in the IT department, which in turn improves the image of IT.

Questions tackled[edit]

What is business/IT Fusion and what is the difference with business/IT alignment?
How will the new Fusion of business and IT function, particularly in its relationship with the business customers and with its suppliers?
What will the new IT organization look like from a Fusion perspective?
What are the tools and mechanisms to make Fusion work?
How ‘intelligent governance’ and the move from budget thinking to portfolio thinking be implemented?
How can the concept of architecture be used and turned into a business instrument?
How will these new IT organizations be staffed? What types of skills are needed and how will they be attracted?
How can the image of IT be rebuilt, and technology innovation be marketed into the business?
What will the new breed of CIO look like, who can transform IT into a Fusion concept?
How can a ‘new deal’ between Business and IT be built and maintained?

Synopsis of the book[edit]

The past, present and future of IT[edit]

Why it’s time for a ‘New Deal’ between business and IT. EDP has been around for 20 years. IT has been around for twenty years. It’s time for a change, a radical change. It’s time for IT 2.0.

The elements of Fusion[edit]

The old ‘island of IT’ is a concept that is dead in the water. The concern should not just be with ‘business/IT alignment’, but with the integration of IT into the business. The time has come for business and IT to fuse.

Why is Alignment a dead-end street?
What does the concept of Fusion mean for IT?
What are the elements of Fusion, and how to apply them?

Models that work[edit]

Over the course of the last fifteen years of study and research into the field of Alignment, a number of models that look at the business/IT alignment domain have proven to be extremely interesting if not valuable. Are these models still relevant in a Fusion context? Absolutely, because these models can be used in the transition towards a state of Fusion, and can in a lot of cases, form a source of inspiration to look at the dialogue between business and IT.

The models of Alignment.
The models of Fusion.

People: the new IT crowd[edit]

What type of people is needed in a Fusion process? For a very long time, extremely technical specialists have been hired into IT departments, creating armies of semi-autistic, communicationally challenged, deep-technical Nerds. In a Fusion concept, a new breed of professionals is needed, with a new blend of capabilities. When you transform your IT department, the most important priority should be on people and culture. They are the foundation of the new IT.

What does the ‘people’ element in a Fusion process entail?
Which blend of people need to be attracted, hired, trained or developed, and how can that be done?
How can the ‘culture’ code in an IT transformation be cracked?

The new CIO: from Robin to Batman[edit]

In the successful transformation of IT, perhaps the Fusion of IT and business, no factor is as determinate and as crucial as the profile of the CIO. What does the new CIO look like, and what role can they play?

The marketing of IT[edit]

Building up the communication skills, and developing a marketing mindset within IT is just part of an overall approach to strive towards better IT Alignment, and a totally new relationship between business and IT. Building a better communication will be essential in our drive to radiate IT leadership.

What is the rationale for communication in IT, and what are the mechanisms for communicating with the business on IT-related matters?
How should a communication and marketing strategy for the information technology function be built?
How should the communication potential and marketing savvyness of the IT staff be raised?

Intelligent governance: beyond IT governance[edit]

Most IT departments have set up IT governance purely with a ‘monitor and control’ mentality, burdening the IT department with extremely heavy compliancy, rules and procedures, and with the result that the business customer of IT now is confronted with a bureaucratic IT apparatus that kills all creativity, flexibility and innovation. Going from IT governance to the concept of ‘intelligent governance’, and turning the static budgeting process into a dynamic portfolio mechanism, can truly revive the governance domain from a sluggish bottleneck into an accelerator of change and a catalyst for the Fusion process between business and IT.

Demonstrate that IT governance can also be an intelligent mechanism to create more value with IT.
Explore the difference between ‘budget’ thinking and ‘portfolio’ thinking.
Show how to use the concept of Intelligent Governance as a mechanism for Fusion between business and IT.

Architects of Change: using scenario planning in IT[edit]

Architecture will be a key component in rethinking IT. Architecture should provide the tools and the mechanisms to not just think about today, but about the future of using technology in companies. Enterprise architecture should become a weapon of change: instead of a static interpretation of the current, it should become an instrument for dealing with the constant flux.

Explore the notion of enterprise architecture, and what it means in a business/IT Fusion context.
Elaborate on the concept of scenario planning as a mechanism to look at the dynamic aspects of Architecture.
Investigate the role and the profile of the architect.

The Fusion roadmap: a practical guide to a new IT[edit]

A roadmap for IT going forward.
Conducting an assessment of where you are.
Mapping out the work necessary to reshape the IT department.
Where will the Fusion of business and IT lead industry, and where could it lead the Managers?

Target readers[edit]

Both IT and business people who want to know more about the relationship between business and IT, the new role of IT (and of the CIO), and how to turn business/IT cooperation into a proactive strategic innovative relationship

Some of the book's sources[edit]

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