CE O-CI O A lignment

Achieve Alignment by Understanding Your CEO’s Perspectives & Priorities

 Your Journey
S t a r t s Here.
Align IT with Business Priorities

Establish IT Performance Indicators

Invest in New Technology & Innovation

Build Alignment with Strategy, Portfolio, and Budget

The following report is a sample of what you will receive after completing the CEO-CIO program.
Each report is customized to the individual organization highlighting the IT department’s most
pressing needs.

Complete the diagnostic program to get the data you need to start your alignment
journey.

CEO-CIO Alignment Copy: Inside the Report

1 Align IT with Compare your evaluation of Sit down with your boss to Agree on a move-forward
IT performance and highlight areas of plan for how IT can uphold
Business Priorities objectives against your disagreement and to get on its mandate and meet its
boss’s. the same page. objectives.

2 Establish IT Involve your boss at the Measure & report on the IT Create systems for
right frequency and for the performance measures that measuring performance
Performance right activities. your boss cares about. including stakeholder
Indicators satisfaction, business
benefits as well as cost.

3 Invest in New Determine which new Innovate intelligently – Build new technology &
technologies the business clarify IT’s mandate and innovation initiatives into
Technology & is most interested in how you can best innovate your IT strategy.
Innovation investing in. to support the business.

4 Build Alignment Map business goals to IT Organize and evaluate your Categorize and allocate IT
priorities in order to build an IT portfolio based on spending in order to enable
with Strategy, IT strategy. business value created. business goals.
Portfolio, and
Budget
To be completed by the most senior IT leader and their boss

Prepared for:
Scott Summers, CEO
William Clay, CIO
Your Company’s CEO-CIO Alignment Program
Scott Summers, CEO | William Clay, CIO
Executive Summary
Alignment has been a buzzword for decades. Among CIOs, alignment is hyped as the apex of
effective IT and written off as jargon. Yet without the proper tools, CIOs are left to play a
guessing game of what deliverables the business demands.

By taking part in the CEO-CIO Alignment Program, you have already taken the first steps to building IT-business alignment
that optimizes IT and drives business value. This report shares insights from the survey component of our program. It will
help you:

• Understand the CEO's perception of and vision for IT in your business

• Identify and build core IT processes that automate IT-business alignment

• Create a plan to address alignment gaps impeding business growth

• Deliver your plan to demonstrate IT value and progress

Instead of producing an endless list to add to your backlog, the program brings clarity to what IT priorities need to be, how
they are defined, and how their success is measured. It creates a tangible path to alignment and all of its associated
benefits. Research reveals that companies with robust IT departments effectively aligned to business goals achieve higher
growth compared to IT departments lacking alignment. For CIOs, effective alignment can be the tipping point in moving IT
from supporting the business to enabling and transforming it.

Make your way through the report and then allow us to guide you through the results and insights. Invite your CEO to join us
on the results call and start your alignment off right.

Throughout the report the CEO and CIO are represented with the following colors:

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Your Company’s CEO-CIO Alignment Program
Scott Summers, CEO | William Clay, CIO
Table of Contents
Evaluating IT Fundamentals 4
Overall Satisfaction 4
IT Budget & Staffing 4
IT Alignment Outcomes 4
Keys to Effective Alignment 5
Aligning with Business Priorities 6
The Role of IT 6
Your IT Innovation Goals 7
CEO Priorities 7
Enabling Innovation with IT 8
Your Areas for IT Innovation 8
Your Barriers to Innovation 8
Appetite for Innovation Technology 9
Establishing IT Performance Indicators 10
Your IT Performance Metrics Recommendations 10
Project Success 11
CEO Involvement 11
COBIT 12
Outline of the COBIT 5 Framework 12
How do I use this cascade? 13
Your Distribution of Stakeholder Needs 14
Business Goals 14
Your Top IT Priorities 15
Your IT Pain Points 16
Your Critical IT Processes 17

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Your Company’s CEO-CIO Alignment Program
Scott Summers, CEO | William Clay, CIO
Evaluating IT Fundamentals
Misalignment is easier to spot than alignment. It is most obvious when core activities – strategic planning, budget & staffing, and project
Compare CIO and CEO responses in
management – are out of sync with business goals. Understand expectations around these core activities so you can determine where to focus
IT business alignment efforts.
key areas. Use these to have a
conversation and set expectations.
Overall Satisfaction
Overall satisfaction provides insight into the CEO's perception of IT
performance as a business partner. Keep in mind that the CEO is the
most important business stakeholder. CIO -43%
CEO-29%
Rate overall satisfaction with IT performance as a business partner.

IT Budgeting & Staffing

Account for available resources now and in the future by understanding IT budget and staffing expectations.

How much should the IT budget and headcount change in the next 3 to 5 years?

Headcount
Budget CEO + >30% CEO + >30%
Proposed change to headcount over
Proposed change to budget over 3-5 years CIO + >30% 3-5 years CIO + >30%

IT Alignment Outcomes
Identify whether IT is investing in non-critical areas, leaving business needs exposed, or both. Understand the needs of the business then
realign IT resources to best meet them.

To what degree does IT invest in areas that do not support the
business?
To what degree do business goals go unsupported by IT?

GAP GAP
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 3

No gap Critical gap No gap Critical gap

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Your Company’s CEO-CIO Alignment Program
Evaluating IT Fundamentals Scott Summers, CEO | William Clay, CIO

Keys to Effective Alignment at Your Company

Evaluate 6 Key Areas of IT
Effective alignment starts with effective IT. Goals need to be defined and success needs to be evaluated in a tangible way. Baking alignment
into every layer of IT governance supports long-term success of the IT-business partnership. Use Info-Tech's resources to build effective IT-
business alignment in your business.
performance. Set priorities and start
improving with Info-Tech tools.
Rate your satisfaction with the following activities.

◆Not Required ◆Significant Improvement Necessary ◆Some Improvement Necessary ◆Effective

Understand business goals

Align to Business Goals

You are here. You've started. Continue to take advantage of the CEO-CIO Alignment
CEO CIO Program by following up with our experts to ensure a successful follow-through.

Define and align IT strategy Align IT Strategy

The IT Strategy workshop has one goal: Provide clear, measurable improvements to your
IT Strategy, in a week. It provides you with:
CEO CIO
• A clear understanding of business objectives, risk awareness, and specific
criteria to the relevance, costs, and benefits of IT investments

Measure stakeholder
satisfaction with IT Align with Stakeholders

Stakeholder management is critical to IT success. The CIO Business Vision is a high

impact program that requires little effort on your part. It provides you with:

CEO CIO • Detailed report cards on stakeholder satisfaction with IT and tools and indicators
to improve your interaction with key stakeholders

Align IT project approval process Align the Project Portfolio

Establish discipline and transparency around IT investments and contribution to business

goals with the Portfolio Management workshop. It will provide you with:
CEO CIO
• A streamlined process for requesting and allocating IT resources for projects
and transparent project approval and prioritization procedures

Align IT budget Align the IT Budget

Align the IT Budget: The Cost & Budget Management workshop will get you to manage IT
spending so that IT services align with business goals and objectives. It provides you with:
CEO CIO
• A forecast for next year's budget, cost improvement to optimize IT spend, and a
comparison of key cost accounts to industry benchmarks

Measure IT project success Align Indicators & Metrics

Performance Measurement & Assessment roadmap guides you on how to use IT metrics
to evaluate accountability and success. It provides you with:
CEO CIO
• A Metrics Selection & Reporting tool and best practices for communicating IT
metrics

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Your Company’s CEO-CIO Alignment Program
Scott Summers, CEO | William Clay, CIO
Aligning with Business Goals
For IT to serve as a valuable business partner, IT leaders must direct resources toward supporting and achieving business goals. A CEO
functions as the primary business stakeholder. Not only does the CEO need to be consulted on these big ticket items, but more importantly he
or she must be understood. IT leaders ignore this reality at their own peril.

The Role of IT at Your Company

Compare CIO and CEO views of IT
Does IT struggle with, support, optimize, expand, or transform the organization? Understanding how the CEO defines the IT role is critical for the
development of the IT mandate and a necessary precursor to building an ITperformance
strategy. and target role. Agree on
performance and clarify IT’s mandate.
Describe the role of IT in your organization – now and in the future.

CEO Optimal
TRANSFORM
Creates new industry

EXPAND
Extends into new business
Generates revenue CIO Optimal

OPTIMIZE
Increases efficiency
Decreases costs

SUPPORT
Keeps business happy
Keep costs low

STRUGGLE
Does not embarrass CEO Actual
Does not crash
CIO Actual

The role of IT needs to be defined by the business and realized by IT. Maximize value created by IT by ensuring that the CEO
and CIO agree on how the IT role is defined so that IT effectively addresses business needs.

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Your Company’s CEO-CIO Alignment Program
Aligning with Business Goals Scott Summers, CEO | William Clay, CIO

Your IT Innovation Goals Determine how IT should innovate.

Innovation is not simply about supporting or developing new products; it can touch anyAssess misalignment
aspect of a business. and plan
initiatives
On a scale of 1 to 7, how strongly should IT innovation contribute to the business in the followingto support
areas? (1 = Not atthe
all; 7 =business.
Very strongly)

0
NewMarkets

0
Revenue Increase Product & Service
Improvements
7

0
Business Process Cost Reduction
Improvements

CEO Priorities
CEO priorities reflect organizational priorities. IT is responsible for servicing these key projects and departments effectively.

Based on business priorities, identify the top 3 corporate projects and departments that are most critical for IT to support?

Top Projects Top Departments

CEO CIO CEO CIO

1. Opportunity Management 1. Lead Generation 1. Sales & Marketing 1. Innovation

2. Acquire Marketing Lead Generation 2. Increase Experiences 2. Engage 2. Marketing
3. Becoming a Model IT Department 3. Development Throughput 3. Innovation 3. McLean & Co.

Approach innovation as a process – not merely an ad hoc activity. Initiate this process with a sound understanding
business expectations for IT-enabled innovation.
Make sure you’re aligned around top
IT priorities and departments
requiring IT support.

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Your Company’s CEO-CIO Alignment Program
Scott Summers, CEO | William Clay, CIO
Enabling Innovation with IT
With effective processes in place, innovation offers the potential for IT to deliver transformative value to the business and create a source of
sustained competitive advantage. It is critical to ensure that IT-enabled innovation supports business goals. Ensure innovation alignment
continues down the correct path.

Your Areas for IT Innovation

From new processes to new markets, IT-enabled innovation can touch any aspect of a business. 69% 71%
On a scale of 1 to 7, how strongly should IT innovation contribute to the business in the following
areas?
(1 = Not at all; 7 = Very strongly)

Evaluate top IT and business barriers to

1
innovation. Build mutual understanding
Product & Service
Improvements Improvementsthen work
Business Process
to resolve barriers.
Revenue Increase Cost Reduction NewMarkets

Your Barriers to Innovation

Barriers to innovation need to be understood before they can be overcome. 43% 34%
On a scale of 1 to 7, how significant are the following barriers to IT-enabled innovation?
(1 = Not at all a barrier; 7 = Significant barrier)

IT Barriers
7

1
Legacy Systems Overhaul IT Staff Resistance IT Leadership Resistance Poor Communication Business Understanding
(IT Leadership)

Business Barriers

34% 40%

1
Inadequate IT Funding Employee Resistance Business Leadership Lack of Direction from Poor Project Execution
Resistance Business

Identify which barriers are impeding growth in your business. Understand the IT barriers to innovation, address the
business barriers to innovation with the most relevant stakeholders, and minimize the both sets of barriers.

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Your Company’s CEO-CIO Alignment Program
Enabling Innovation with IT Scott Summers, CEO | William Clay, CIO

Appetite for Innovation Technology at Your Company

See where the CEO wants to invest in
Understanding why the business wants to innovate with specific technologies is critical to successful implementation and user adoption.
new technology. Incorporate these
In 3 to 5 years, should the business adopt these technologies?
areas into IT strategic planning.

A CEO's exposure to technology will differ from that of a When both parties perceive a high need for adoption,
CIO, but must be taken in consideration. Formally initiate a formal investigation into the technology, and
discuss this technology with the CEO to understand his its business and industry impacts. Fast-track your
or her reasoning. investigation with Info-Tech's set on how to Exploit
Disruptive Technology.

EmployeeMobility 4 5 Customer Mobility 6 5

4 6 5 6
Cloud Infrastructure Cloud Applications

4 7 6 7
Big Data Collection Big Data Analytics

4 6 4 6
SocialMarketing Social Engagement

4 5
CollaborationTools

Rapid technological development can threaten a Before implementing technology for which the CIO
business, while adoption can create a competitive perceives as having a high need to adopt, consult with
advantage for a business that do so effectively. Keep in the CEO. Justify the technology for the business, not just
mind that the responsibility of staying up-to-date rests IT.
with IT and–ultimately–with the CIO.

IoT Tracking 1 2 IoT ProductIdeas 1 2

Effective adoption of technology requires alignment between IT and the business before implementation.

Page 11 of 18
Your Company’s CEO-CIO Alignment Program
Scott Summers, CEO | William Clay, CIO
Establishing IT Performance Indicators
Follow-through is critical. You may be operating a world-class IT department, but do you have the indicators to prove it? Are these indicators
communicating IT performance transparently and effectively to the CEO? Delivering your results in a user-friendly format – typically the format
the CEO demands – ensures that you will be understood and rewarded accordingly.

Your IT Performance Metrics Recommendations

You can't manage what you can't measure. Understand which metrics matter most to the business to optimize IT communication and reporting.

Which indicators are used and which indicators should be implemented in your business?

CEO CEO

CIO CIO

Effective

CIO CIO

Some Improvement Necessary

CEO CEO CEO CEO

Significant Improvement
Necessary

CIO CIO

Not Required

BusinessValue Stakeholder Risk Cost & Salary Technology Ad Hoc

Satisfaction Perf & Ops Feedback

Benefits Risk Resources Other

Do not sell yourself or your IT department short. Ineffective indicators prevent you from identifying the root cause of
Determine which performance indicators the
serious issues and also fail to communicate your successes. Improve transparency by using effective indicators and
CEO values. Make sure you have programs in
metrics in areas that are important to the CEO. Ensure that the key metrics programs are built and optimized to keep the
business happy.
place to report on them.

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Your Company’s CEO-CIO Alignment Program
Establishing IT Performance Indicators Scott Summers, CEO | William Clay, CIO

Project Success at Your Company

While project failure is a reality in any organization, the proportion of successful projects should be maximized. Understand and address the
issues that impede project success.

What percent of projects exceeded, met, or failed to meet business expectations? What percent were outright cancelled?

Projects exceeded Projects met business Projects did not meet Projects were cancelled.
business expectations. expectations. business expectations.

0% 0% 55% 45% 35% 35% 10% 20%

Of projects that did not meet business expectations or were cancelled, how significant were the following issues?

Failed to deliver expected benefit or

value

Low quality

Breach of scope

Project failed to be delivered on-time

Over Budget
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Not Significant Very Significant

Other: Assess the success of IT projects and

reasons for failure. Use feedback to
improve project management.
CEO Involvement
Consider the CEO's capacity for involvement and establish regular collaboration on key activities.

How often should the CEO participate in these activities? Selected by CEO Selected by CIO Selected by Both

Never Less Than Annually Annually Semi-Annually Quarterly or More

IT Project Funding Vendor Management IT Strategy IT Budgeting IT Strategy

Vendor Management IT Budgeting IT Project Funding
IT Quality Management Major IT Project Review
IT Risk Assessment IT Quality Management

Understand what activities the CEO wants

Strategic misalignment is the primary cause of dissatisfaction with IT. Solidify realistic expectations around core activities
and plan for CEO involvement – on his or her terms. This will mitigate the consequences of unforeseen changes and foster
to be involved in. Ensure involvement
a healthy IT-business partnership.
matches expectations for a quick win.

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Your Company’s CEO-CIO Alignment Program
Aligning with Business Goals Scott Summers, CEO | William Clay, CIO

Outline of the Cobit 5 Framework

What is COBIT 5?
COBIT 5 is a globally-accepted framework used by businesses to optimize IT value. It covers end-to-end
business and IT activities enabling IT to be a more effective business partner.
Map stakeholder needs to IT priorities
Why is COBIT important?
COBIT 5 delineates and
specificprocesses
IT priorities and to improve.
IT processes that are necessary to achieve business goals.
It outlines step-by-step guides complete with metrics providing a full solution for IT departments in any
business.

Effective processes are essential to the success of IT. By prioritizing business goals and identifying pain points, you ensure
that you are focusing on the right processes for your business.

Page 14 of 18
Your Company’s CEO-CIO Alignment Program See a summary of business goals and IT
Aligning with Business Goals Scott Summers, CEO | William Clay, CIO
priorities & processes that address them.
Your Company Goal Cascade Use these to build your IT strategy.
Stakeholder Needs
Stakeholder needs encompass three governance objectives aimed at value creation:
benefits realization, risk optimization, and resource optimization.

1. Offer competitive products &

Scott Summers’s Business Goals services
Info-Tech's survey design made it possible to 2. Improve customer experience
provide a weighted importance of business 3. Respond to change with agility
goals. The business goals revealed here have 4. Manage people
been determined by your CEO. 5. Manage risk

IT Priorities at Your Company

1. Achieve IT-business alignment
Your business goals can be used to determine 2. Optimize IT service delivery
which IT priorities are critical to achieving 3. Implement agile IT
them. Focus on these priorities to strengthen 4. Facilitate IT-enabled innovation
the IT-business partnership. 5. Generate benefits through IT investments

1. Manage Requirements Definition

IT Processess at Your Company 2. Manage Strategy
IT priorities map to specific IT processes. This 3. Ensure Benefits Delivery
section expands on the top 10 IT processes 4. Manage Human Resources
that will automate IT-business alignment in 5. Manage the IT Management Framework
your organization. Any processes emphasized 6. Manage Innovation
in bold identify processes for which the CEO 7. Manage Relationships
perceives a critical need to improve. 8. Manage Programs and Projects
9. Manage Portfolio
10. Ensure Governance Framework Setting and Maintenance

IT Pain Points at Your Company

1. Ineffective, late or over budget IT changes
To determine your most important processes, 2. Business frustration with IT failure to deliver value
the CEO-CIO Alignment Program takes into 3. Staff sufficiency, skill, and engagement issues
account the severity of your pain points. We 4. IT limits affecting business innovation and agility
incorporate the CEO's and CIO's pain point 5. IT-related business risk incidents
severity scores to determine which IT
processes are listed in this cascade. This
ensures that the IT processes you focus on
will simultaneously address business goals
and minimize pain points.

Use this personalized cascade as your guideline for strengthening IT's alignment with business goals. The cascade reveals
business goals, streamlines the definition of IT priorities and processes necessary to achieve business goals, and identifies
pain points that impede IT effectiveness.

Refine the results with your CEO and remember not to use the cascade mechanically. Keep in mind that goals and their
respective importance will change over time. Revisit and refine the cascade annually.

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Your Company’s CEO-CIO Alignment Program
Aligning with Business Goals Scott Summers, CEO | William Clay, CIO

Your Critical IT Processes

This table defines the most important processes for your IT department. It outlines which IT priorities
map to each process and which specific pain points are addressed by the process.

Non-negotiable – Resolve Imminent – Strategize Negligible — Monitor

Mapping of Business Goals to IT Priorities

Rank Process IT Priorities Supported Pain Points Mitigated

• Achieve IT-business alignment

Manage Requirements
1 • Optimize IT service delivery  Business frustration with IT failure to deliver value
Definition
• Support and enable business processes

 Business frustration with IT failure to deliver value

 IT limits affecting business innovation and agility
• Achieve IT-business alignment
 Ineffective, late or over budget IT changes
2 Manage Strategy • Optimize IT service delivery
 Senior management unwilling to sponsor IT
• Facilitate IT-enabled innovation
 Complex IT operating models


• Achieve IT-business alignment Business frustration with IT failure to deliver value

• Optimize IT service delivery Hidden and rogue IT spending
3 Ensure Benefits Delivery 
• Facilitate IT-enabled innovation Resource waste from duplication

• Generate benefits through IT investments Senior management unwilling to sponsor IT

• Achieve IT-business alignment

• Facilitate IT-enabled innovation
 Business frustration with IT failure to deliver value
4 Manage Human Resources • Manage IT staff
 Staff sufficiency, skill, and engagement issues
• Optimize IT resources
• Optimize project delivery

• Achieve IT-business alignment

 Business frustration with IT failure to deliver value
• Implement agile IT
Manage the IT Management  Hidden and rogue IT spending
5 • Facilitate IT-enabled innovation
Framework  Senior management unwilling to sponsor IT
• Manage IT staff Complex IT operating models

• Optimize IT resources

• Implement agile IT
• Facilitate IT-enabled innovation

6 Manage Innovation • Generate benefits through IT investments  IT limits affecting business innovation and agility
• Optimize IT resources
• Satisfy IT products & services support

• Achieve IT-business alignment

• Optimize IT service delivery
7 Manage Relationships
• See which IT processes will best
Facilitate IT-enabled innovation
• support
Support and enable business processes your business goals. Work on

• process improvement to drive results.

Achieve IT-business alignment
 Business frustration with IT failure to deliver value
Manage Programs and • Generate benefits through IT investments
 Resource waste from duplication
8 Projects • Manage IT-related risk
 Ineffective, late or over budget IT changes
• Optimize project delivery

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