This book features
- Real-life case studies from Fortune 500 companies
- Interactive excercises
- Easy to read figures, tables, and other illustrations
Practical Strategy
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Finally…a Practical Strategy for Business and IT Alignment
New book solves the mystery of business and technology alignment
Rockaway, New Jersey, March 2, 2006 — Every business executive wants an easily executable plan for profitability. Yet, with the glut of technology solutions aimed at facilitating this simplicity, many are lost in the complexity of aligning their bottom line business strategy with their high-end IT investment.
In his new book, Practical Strategy: Aligning Business and Information Technology (ISBN: 0-7575-2150-9), author Rupert Hayles offers readers a “holy grail” for how to understand, plan and manage technology to ensure alignment.
"This book will give the high-level executive as well as the entry-level professional the understanding needed to effectively plan, execute and manage profitable technology activites", Hayles says.
A recent study by Gartner Group showed the technology and business managers are facing two major issues:
- Negligible understanding of the value of IT and,
- the failure of alignment between IT and the business.
Hayles, a professor at Setong Hall University's Stillman School of Business and Chief Operating Officer of Christ Church, a 5,000-member organization in northern New Jersey, wrote the book to address Gartner Groups's findings.
“My first objective in writing this book is to explain how to align IT with the business,” says Hayles. “Secondly, the book is intended to educate business professionals about technology operations within a business environment. And thirdly, the book is aimed at showing readers how to capitalize on the use of technology through effective planning.”
Practical Strategy, published by Kendall/Hunt, focuses on the convergence of both IT and business to form a comprehensive, yet easy-to-understand view of the world of technology and strategic planning. In the book, Hayles defines what he calls,
The Alignment Link as the single most important activity that should be performed in a company as it relates to an information technology undertaking. “The Alignment Link states that any information technology activity should be driven by a business objective and complimented by an information technology strategy,” he says. “Without that, it is useless to perform an IT initiative—excluding research and development purposes.
The book features real-life case studies, clear and demonstrative figures, and several graphic illustrations. It also includes a glossary and list of key terms. The most significant benefit for readers is a template of a business systems strategic plan. “This is essential to anyone who needs to develop a business systems plan for an enterprise or for a business unit,” Hayles says. “This book offers readers the practical experience and know-how of living, breathing, and implementing a strategic plan within an enterprise.”
Key Features of Practical Strategy
Glossary :: Appendix A, page 23-27 of 27 in the Appendix. Lists definitions of technology and business terms used in the book and in any business systems development plan.
Table of Figures: Page 247 and 250. These pages are designed help the visual reader digest the theoretical information and also to make the presentation of the information more practical.
Vignettes – What Happens in Practice: Pages 51, 53, 55 and 57. These stories provide a practical view of the information previously discussed by explaining the nuances between what is stated in theory versus what actually happens.Interactive Exercises: Pages 105, 121, 146, 178 and 191. These exercises query the reader about what they have just learned to help reinforce the specific content of chapters.
Case Studies (3): Pages 1, 73 and 196. These cases, taken from major corporations, detail the challenges, successes and failures of technology and business strategists.
Chapter Summaries: Pages 102, 118, 139, 171 and 188. These five chapters are the main focus of developing a strategic business systems plan. While the information is discussed prior to each of the above pages, the title: “Bringing The Section Together” summarizes the content.
Correlated Readings: Page 146. The book cited here details specifically how to develop enterprise technology architecture and was used as reference when addressing the subject of architecture in this book.
Bibliography: Page 243. Offers a list of books used and referenced in the development of this book.
Index: Page 245. This tool shows where important information can be located.