McKinsey has just published the results of a survey of 72 senior IT executives in the US (free subscription required for the full article) which investigated IT strategy maturity. The majority of respondents believe that they are successfully aligning IT strategy with business needs. What’s particularly gratifying, in light of the principles we outline in the book, is that 83% agree that their IT strategy is developed through collaboration with the business, with 79% saying that their IT plans are shaped by close integration of their IT and business strategies.

The research also shows that almost 90% are at least somewhat effective when it comes to getting the basics right and managing IT infrastructure and 85% when it comes to managing IT as a business-driven portfolio and focusing IT where it can add most business value, further endorsing our principles.

All in the garden (sorry!) isn’t quite so rosy when it comes to harnessing technology innovation. This isn’t too surprising. In the book we outline a chain of four goals for sustainable IT-business alignment and it’s only in the last link in that chain where IT is in a position to drive the business “through business innovation based on understanding of IT and business capabilities and constraints and how they relate to one another“