Align IT with Business Process to Optimize Performance and Management

Business Technology Optimization (BTO) is an industry initiative that allows companies to correctly align IT with business process to maximize business performance. Until now, companies have not had a simple way to measure, maximize, and manage technology with the business as the focal point. BTO makes it possible by delivering a strong set of testing, tuning, and management tools as well as the best practices and quality management principles to IT.

The infrastructure of the enterprise continues to increase in complexity, while reliance on the network, computing platforms, and applications continues to escalate. New technologies such as Web Services will continue to add to the complexity and the cost of running IT. Meanwhile, IT organizations are being asked to reduce operational expenses while competitive pressures require an infrastructure that delivers new applications to fuel new initiatives.

An organization’s IT infrastructure supports many more constituents than it once did. Just a few years ago, it primarily supported the internal staff of the company. As a result, downtime or poor performance, while not ideal, was tolerated and-for the most part-accepted as business as usual.

Today’s open, high-transaction environments have put new business pressures on IT executives. IT organizations must change the way they operate by aligning IT investments with the needs of the business.

The value proposition of BTO centers on solving the paradox of shrinking IT budgets and the demand for new, productivity-enhancing applications.

Conclusions

Despite the downturn in the economy and lower IT budgets, the pace of technology has not slowed. Companies will soon have to decide whether to upgrade existing applications and infrastructure or invest in new technologies such as unified communications, Web Services, and utility computing, while determining how to best leverage them for maximum gain.

To truly achieve maximum benefit from new and existing technology, CIOs and IT executives must shift their thinking from bits and bytes to productivity and profits. This shift in the industry is imperative to IT’s evolution within the enterprise if it becomes truly strategic to the business.

CIOs and IT executives who have not begun the process of correctly aligning the IT infrastructure with business processes and requirements will soon be at a competitive disadvantage.