The new IT organization : eight imperatives

Change has emerged as the trademark of the 1990s' business environment, and changes in both business and in technology are prompting adaptation in the role and structure of the information technology (IT) function. This article explores some of the challenges IT units now face and defines eight "imperatives" for IT management trying to respond to those challenges. The imperatives are: (1) achieving two-way strategic alignment; (2) developing effective line partnerships; (3) delivering and implementing new systems; (4) building and managing infrastructure; (5) reskilling the IT organization; (6) managing vendor partnerships; (7) building high performance and (8) redesigning and managing the "federal" IT organization. The article also discusses trends in the structure of the IT organization, and emphasizes the growing and crucial role of line managers in the effective use of IT. Acknowledgments The authors gratefully acknowledge the support of the MIT Center for Information Systems Research, the IBM Institute for Electronic Government, and the Centre for Research in Information Management at London Business School, and also thank Judith Quillard of MIT/CISR for her valuable suggestions on the paper.