Strategy-Focused IT Organization

Not long after Kaplan and Norton published The Balanced Scorecard in 1996, leaders of information technology (IT) organizations began experimenting with the balanced scorecard (BSC) framework to drive performance improvement of the IT function within their enterprises. These early efforts focused on immediate objectives to improve service quality while reducing (or at least containing) IT costs. My early work with these organizations revealed that while this focus on cost and quality was necessary, it was not sufficient for driving the strategic performance of the IT organizations’ parent enterprises. The widespread frustration with IT organizations made it clear that a broader set of objectives was needed.

In 2001, inspired by Kaplan and Norton’s The Strategy-Focused Organization, I conceived the concept of the Strategy-Focused IT Organization, in which the necessary emphasis on cost and quality are balanced with an emphasis on alignment with business strategy, responsiveness and agility, and the use of technology to enrich the enterprise value proposition. Since then, many organizations have applied and expanded upon this foundation.