Strategic alignment: Leveraging information technology for transforming organizations

It is clear that even though information technology (I/T) has evolved from its traditional orientation of administrative support toward a more strateg ic role within an organization, there is still a glaring lack of fundamenta l frameworks within which to understand the potential of I/T for tomorrow's organizations. In this paper, we develop a model for conceptualizing and d irecting the emerging area of strategic management of information technolog y. This model, termed the Strategic Alignment Model, is defined In terms of four fundamental domains of strategic choice: business strategy, informati on technology strategy organizational infrastructure and processes and info rmation technology infrastructure and processes-each with ifs own underlyin g dimensions. We illustrate the power of this model in terms of two fundame ntal characteristics of strategic management: strategic fit (the interrelat ionships between external and Internal components) and functional integrati on (Integration between business and functional domains). More specifically , we derive four perspectives of alignment with specific for guiding manage ment practice in this important area.