Information Systems Management

PART 3 Project Alignment

Introduction to Part 3

The third part of this work tackles an open-ended issue: the alignment of the information system and its projects on the general strategy of an extended organization. This is a constantly returning issue due to the strategic shifts the organization has to make in response to changes in the competitive environment and technological developments that make the solutions quickly obsolete, once implemented. While alignment is the responsibility of the strategist, it is nonetheless a day-to-day issue that must be under continual revision. To guide and direct this strategy, it is important to link the concepts of alignment and governance on the one hand, and of alignment and urbanization on the other hand.

In doing so, the strategic manager’s main concern is to ensure that his choices are consistent with the operating procedures of the information systems stakeholders on the one hand and the territorial occupation patterns on the other hand. While the concern for alignment equates to organizational consistency in the dynamic context of project management, we could also say that it leads on to methods of managing change. For our part, we advance a continuous improvement model (proposed by Deming under the name of PlanDoCheckAct) that allows it to be put into operation. To further clarify our proposals, we will conclude this part with a case study that will explain the different parameters to be reconciled when considering this approach. ...