Strategic Alignment and IT Project Portfolio Management

If structured around an appropriate combination of business processes, knowledge and technology, Information Systems can become a very powerful business strategic lever. With this holistic perspective in mind, we redesigned the dysfunctioning IT project portfolio management process of one of the FTSE 100 global companies. The new process aims at better identifying, evaluating and balancing projects in the light of business strategy. A complementary knowledge management system was conceived to achieve adequate integration of business processes and human capital. Linked together, they enable appropriate alignment between corporate business strategy, IT strategy and operations. We developed and implemented a support system showing the distribution of the projects according to retained performance indicators. The results obtained are well in line with the decision makers' needs and well tuned to their business strategy. To fully leverage the benefits of this approach, this framework should be extended to the complete organizational process. Key-words: Strategic alignment, Business IT alignment, IT project portfolio, knowledge management, project balancing, balanced scorecard