Improve Business Ict Alignment Commerce Essay Example

comprehensive set of guidelines for managing IT services (Hewlet-Packard, 2003).

The two main procedures in ITIL are

• service support
• service delivery.

ITIL is a recognized method for managing IT services that aims to address the disorder often found in modern data centers. It was started by the United Kingdom's Office of Government Commerce (OGC), also known as the Central Computer and Telecommunications Agency (CCTA), in the mid-1980s.
Today, ITIL is a well-established, non-proprietary model for IT processes that can be applied across industries and technologies. While not prescriptive, it offers industry best practices organized in a library or set of books, providing an integrated framework.
To achieve Business ICT Alignment, organizations must make informed decisions considering both business and IT disciplines. This involves establishing decision-making and control processes, which fall under the term "administration." Therefore, Business ICT Alignment is closely connected to information technology management.

A commonly referenced definition by the IT Governance Institute states that IT administration involves the responsibility of the board of managers and executive management. It is an integral part of enterprise administration and includes the leadership and organizational structures and processes that ensure the organization's IT supports and advances its strategies and objectives. Henderson and Venkatraman are considered the founding fathers of Business/IT alignment and published an article titled Strategic Alignment (Handerson & Venkatraman, 1999). A study of three different organizations discovered that alignment developed through both evolutionary and radical means (Sabherwal et al., 2001).

These two footings pertain to the level of modification made to the organizations' "deep structures". The term "deep structures" pertains to the organization's choices regarding strategies and structural arrangements between IS and business. The evolutionary stage is characterized by minimal alteration, and

despite the potential for low alignment, there is often resistance to change. Revolutionary alteration may occur due to new leadership or changes in the external environment, resulting in shifts in alignment patterns. These changes can be both negative and positive, and after radical changes, any gaps in alignment may need to be addressed (Sabherwal et al.).

In many organizations, there is a discrepancy between ICT professionals and business professionals due to differences in goals, culture, incentives, and ignorance of each other's knowledge. As a result, expensive IT systems are often implemented without providing sufficient return on investment. Therefore, the search for Business/ICT Alignment is closely tied to improving the business value of ICT investments. The objective of this research is to determine the effectiveness of ITIL in aligning ICT and business objectives using the SAM methodology developed by Handerson et al. (2001).

, 1999). This model identifies four dominant alliance positions. By placing ITIL in the internal sphere of the model, its impact on the other three parts of the model can be investigated. It will be demonstrated how ITIL accomplishes alignment between IT and business objectives in general.

Positioning ITIL within a specific portion of the model allows for identification of its impact on business strategy, IT strategy, and organizational infrastructure and processes. This enables investigation into how service support and service delivery can meet business demands.

Research Question and Aims

This research project aims to explore how organizations can manage the strategic alliance between business strategy and IT strategy using ITIL. The following research question is formulated:

1. How can ITIL enhance the alignment of ICT with business objectives?
2. This question can be further elaborated through
   

the following sub-questions:

1. How can knowledge sharing be facilitated within the organization?
2. What are the main capabilities and benefits of implementing ITIL for an organization?
3. How is the Business-ICT alliance achieved?

The results of this explorative research indicate that effective implementation of ITIL creates alignment in organizations.

Methodology

The choice of research approach significantly influences the entire research process.

Both initiation and tax write-off are methods that aid researchers in forming a conclusion and developing a theory. The inductive approach is employed during the collection and analysis of empirical data to formulate a theory regarding the research questions. Conversely, the deductive approach, also referred to as theory testing, entails testing a hypothesis using the accumulated empirical data (Saunders, Lewis & Thornhill, 2007). The deductive approach strives to test an established theory by gathering empirical data and generating a theory.

Both deductive and inductive approaches involve the researcher establishing relationships between variables. However, they take opposite approaches to generate a valid and dependable theory. With the deductive approach, the researcher formulates a theory and then collects and analyzes empirical data to support or refute it. In contrast, the inductive approach involves first collecting and analyzing empirical data, which is then generalized to form a new theory. To conduct this study, the authors began by conducting a thorough literature review to gain an understanding of the concepts of ITIL and Business ICT alliance.

Based on the information provided, a research question was formulated. Subsequently, data will be gathered through interviews with IT professionals and by studying additional secondary literature. Through

analyzing and categorizing the empirical findings, decisions will be made to address the research question and develop a theory. Thus, this thesis work will employ an inductive approach.

The following points will be followed to answer the research inquiries:

• Strategic alliance can be achieved by improving communication between ICT and business, as well as enhancing service delivery to business.
• It improves the quality and availability of services, which leads to more satisfied customers and a competitive advantage.
• ITIL breaks down barriers and enables knowledge sharing within an organization.
• ITIL can support business strategy, improve IT strategy and competence, and have a significant impact on organizational infrastructure.
• It ensures consistency in the way things are done throughout the organization.

In this research, due to the rapidly changing and developing nature of ITIL, official websites will be one of the main sources of information. For example, updated information and introductions can be found on the OGC Official ITIL website (OGC ITIL), OGC Best Management Practice website (ITIL UK), and ITIL/ITSM World website (ITIL/ITSM World). In addition, books available in hard copies, online documents, and published journals are referred to for explaining the theoretical framework. This original framework serves as the benchmark and basis for empirical observations and developed theory.

Planning

The timeline for this thesis project is from October 2012 to the start of April 2013, allowing for a limited timeframe to achieve results. The final month of the project will primarily be dedicated

to analyzing the collected information and making a decision regarding the thesis.