Please read the two assigned readings from MISQ Executive then answer the following question: Why might it be useful for an organisation to be aware of what stage it is at according to Ross’s (2003) four-stage model of Strategic IT Architecture competency?
A business needs to know what stage it is at so that it can effectively coordinate its business and IT strategies. If the business strategy is cost leadership then the IT strategy should match, ideally being in the standardised technology stage or the optimised core stage. If the company is unaware of which stage they are at they cannot match the IT strategy to the business strategy, causing the strategy to be less effective. But if the company knows it is at the business silo stage they can implement changes to move to the standardised technology stage and reduce operating costs.
ReplyDeleteAnother reason it is important to know your stage regards change management and capacity for change. The four stages build upon what has come before, making jumping a stage very difficult to do. If a business decides they want to share data between applications and BU’s they will often choose an ERP system. This is fine if they are coming from the standardised technology stage, with standards for technology already in place, but can be disastrous if they are coming from the business silo stage as there will be too much change too quickly. This can cause culture shock, with peoples roles in the company rapidly changing to something new and unexpected. When planning changes the business needs to know what stage they are at so that they can make an informed plan for how to get to the stage they want to be.
I agree with Jesse. Knowing which stage would let the firm or the organisation get all the benefits each stage has to offer. Without knowing its current stage means there is a very great possibility of skipping a stage or possibly repeating a stage that has been already been done. It has been found out, based on the article, when a stage is skipped, its benefits are delayed. Benefits being delayed is bad but there is a worse scenario; when the firm has to backpedal to do the skipped stage. This means waste of time resource. Another importance of knowing which stage it's at minimises the risks each stage has; when a stage is skipped, its risks might multiply, and this is a greater problem. These are why, in my opinion, the reasons why it might be useful for an organisation to be aware of what stage it is in.
ReplyDeleteIt is very useful for an organisation to know what stage they are on in terms of Ross' four stage model. I agree with Jesse in that it helps them be able to plan out their strategies for the present and also for the future and they can effectively begin to transform the business based on their current and intended stage of IT development.
ReplyDeleteEach stage corresponds to a certain business strategy. In the 'EA and IT value' article, it states that the silo and standardized structure is useful for an "emphasis on anticipating market requirements, creating durable relationships, and understanding competitors" and the rationalised and modular architectures is "internally oriented, emphasizing the performance of tasks to yield labor productivity and efficiency". This shows that being at the right stage is important to how the business wants to run.
The four stage model also helps organisations find out how to allocate their resources concerning IT so they aren't spending too much time and money on resources that aren't important. It helps to create better management of IT which will improve their organisational learning and skill, depending on the stage.
businesses need to know what stage they are at so it can better leverage their IT investments. by being aware of each stage the organisation can better manage their IT values which include its ability to mange external relationships, its ability to lower operational costs and its strategic agility. without proper recognition of each stage an organisation would have trouble in addressing the needs for IT and Business process integration and standardization. Ross suggests that each stage can generate business value through organisational learning at each stage. organisations who skip stages tend to find themselves delayed and must revisit stages to acquire the missing organisational competencies. Ross summarizes that the main reason for the four stages is to have more strategic alignment between the IT and the business. by doing so the firm can achieve higher returns on IT investments and the firms focus on project portfolio is likely to have a strategic impact
ReplyDeleteOrganisations using the Ross's four-stage model need to know what stage they are on to benefit the organisation. There are four stages in model, the application silo architecture stage, the standardized technology architecture stage, the rationalized data architecture stage, and the modular architecture stage. Organisation should be aware what stage they are in as it could generate significant business value at each stage. Organisations that skip stages find that their benefits re delayed and must go back to the past stage to acquire them. In my opinion, organisations that don't know what stage they are in tend to waste time, resources and take greater risks. If an organisation knows what stage it is in, then it can gain a greater business value by not skipping ahead to another stage.
ReplyDeleteIt's very useful for a business to know which stage of Ross's four-stage model of Strategic IT Architecture competency so that they can effectively align their IT strategies with their overall business strategy and deliver maximum value.
ReplyDeleteWhile in the past it was often thought that the relationship between Business strategy and IT strategy/architecture was one way, more recently there has been evidence that IT capabilities can influence business strategy as well. Ross (2003) presents a four stage process model which organisations move through to reach this two-way interaction. These stages start at the application silo architecture stage where the IT architecture consists of individual applications instead of the whole organisation. It then moves onto the standardised technology and rationalised data architectures where enterprise wide gains are made with the standardisation of technology and data/processes respectively. The fourth stage is a modular architecture where enterprise-wide standards are loosely coupled with IT components to preserve standards while allowing for small differences where necessary. Based on this information I agree with the others’ comments that it is very important for an organisation to know what stage it is at in the model. If the organisation does not know which stage they are at, they could miss crucial steps of the process or aim their resources at the wrong area, wasting money. It has also been noted by the earlier comments that there is evidence that if a firm ‘skips’ a step then the benefits are delayed and they often have to go backwards to patch up the missed stage.
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