How do you align an IT project, i.e. cloud computing, with your business goals?

David,

The "alignment of goals" discussion is always particularly interesting because of the perception that different members of an organization have concerning how the organization functions.

The Information Technology team is supposed to support the overall objectives of the organization just as HR, Finance, Marketing and Sales should. As such, it needs to be in the loop in terms of what the organization is trying to accomplish, so that it can bring its knowledge and insights to bear on the issues.

Some organizations, or departments within organizations, bring IT into the loop after making a whole lot of decisions about what they want and who they want it from. They select vendors, equipment and solutions and then drop it as the doorstop of IT to integrate into the environment.

In some other organizations, IT essentially isolates itself and deliberately stays of the discussion of what the business is accomplishing. This forces them into "realignment" mode ever so often (usually at budget season and during some major project).

Both of these approaches and attitudes are counterproductive. It is just as important for the technology team to be constantly in sync with the overall business as it is for Sales and Marketing to be constantly in sync with the overall business. This requires good communication within and across the different teams in an organization, and it requires department leaders to take each other seriously and treat one another with respect.

It also requires that the senior management team set the marching orders for the organization in this regard, and put things in place to ensure that such interaction is accomplished.

Here are a couple of additional articles to emphasize this point:
http://home.asbzone.com/ASB/archive/2010/05/06/making-business-sense.aspx
http://home.asbzone.com/ASB/archive/2009/12/16/getting-real-benefit-from-your...

-ASB: http://xeesm.com/AndrewBaker