Winning the 3-Legged Race: When Business and Technology Run Together

In the Preface, Faisal Hoque recalls a time (1999) when he observed that in company after company "how haphazradly people managed technology, particularly technology spending. The business principles they applied in other areas were not being applied to technology...In many firms it was bought and deployed on a hope anbd a prayer...I became convinced that business executives and technology executives still viewed each other across a chasm, even if they were now sitting at the same table. Only when they took off their business or technology hats and worked together to build the business could they succeed." That description still applies to many organizations today. For their decision-makers, this volume offers invaluable information and counsel as they struggle to achieve effective convergence of business and technology and then manage it, a process as difficult as competing and winning in a "three-legged race." The metaphor is apt. Speed alone is insufficient. Balance is also essential, as are determination and endurance. The first step in the process is to "get BTM on the execxutive agenda" and understand what BTM is and can do; determine strategic positions and make the right investments; agree on "who's in charge"; and complete other preparations, meanwhile sustaining effective communication, cooperation, and collaboration between and among everyone involved. The authors organize their material within two main sections. In Part I, they examine business technology management (BTM) at the most strategic levels, where the board, CEO, and entire senior management team must be actively involved if an organization expects to be successful. In Part II, they delve deeper into specific issues central to combining and coordinating business and technology initiatives in proper alignment with the given strategy. Readers will appreciate the provision of an "Executive Agenda" section at the conclusion of each chapter which reviews and summarizes key points, and also suggests what "next steps" should be taken. Here in a single volume is a rigorous and thorough examination of "The BTM Standard": a set of guiding principles that create a seamless management approach based on 17 essential capabilities grouped into four functional areas: governance and organization, managing technology investments, strategy and planning, and strategic enterprise architecture.