Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
5 Conclusion
The design of the consulting methodology has been discussed, focusing on the Busi-
ness Service Analysis component and its close relationship with the Business Service
Norms Analysis which provides a structured approach to elicit the social (cultural)
aspect values embedded in the business. The articulation of the social values helps to
provide a more complete and holistic representation of the business services in the
organisation. We have, using the example, shown how to identify the business norms
provided by the analysis methods and techniques. We have also addressed the need to
include the cultural aspects that impact the business and IT alignment. Although the
social aspect is considered as implicit knowledge, it can have a significant influence
on the business service values and IT applications that support the business services.
The holistic representation from the business service analysis is complemented by
the Business Service Valuation in the Portfolio Valuation where the emphasis is on
determining the cultural values of the business service. The analysis is performed by
capturing the organisation stakeholders' perception of the business services and IT
applications. The outcome of the complete valuation phase enhances the holistic view
of their business-IT alignment presented in the Business Service Analysis and con-
tributes to the other analysis components, specifically the Strategy Formulation com-
ponent, where a future IT strategy and a roadmap for an improved alignment can be
developed for the organisation.
Future work will focus on the development of a complete consulting methodology.
This will include a validation of the architecture using actual organisations. This is
critical to test the framework against real business issues to ensure the validity of the
methodology for practical use. Further development to complete the consulting meth-
odology toolset is also under construction.
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