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The alternative is to build a company-wide rationale for information technology, bringing the internal supply (IT function) and demand (business unit) sides together to focus investment on the few distinctive capabilities that set the company apart. Most top executives understand this reality. They recognize the strategic value of visionary IT leadership, especially in helping their companies understand which strategies are most viable. Some companies have been able to achieve that kind of IT leadership. But many do not know, in practice, how to get there from where they are today.

Corporate capabilities and information technology are intertwined in every company, but the relationship between them is often misunderstood. A capability is the ability to reliably and consistently deliver a specified outcome relevant to your business. This capability is ensured through a combination of processes, tools, knowledge, skills, and organization that are all focused on meeting the desired result.

If you are a CEO, a CFO, or a business leader, you should insist that the IT function develop a complementary road map for its investments. Your business and IT leaders should develop this road map collaboratively. Conversely, if you are a chief information officer seeking to adopt this sort of road map, you may find yourself alone at first. You will need to influence the culture and governance systems of the larger company. You might, for example, seek to include the IT road map process in annual strategic planning exercises, set up joint business–IT governance councils, or establish new metrics for the performance and relevance of IT projects. You will need to insist on broad business participation in high-level IT decisions. Finally, you might seek IT oversight policies such as those imposed at Royal Dutch Shell PLC, where 80 percent of IT spending was dedicated to the 200 most strategically important applications. Now is the time to raise the bar on IT investment planning, to make sure investment capital is used to position the business for success. As a CIO or IT leader, you must focus on enabling the corporate strategy, not fighting about technology standards or managing budgets. As a CEO, a CFO, or a business leader, you must seek to understand how technology can enable your capabilities, instead of simply trying to reduce your unit service cost. The integral role of IT gives you a unique vantage point from which to help the business identify the right capabilities and bring them together across the value chain. With a well-designed road-mapping process, you can give IT the role that it deserves.

It’s time for companies to develop a strategy for knowledge work—one that not only provides a clearer view of the types of information that workers need to do their jobs but also recognizes that the application of technology across the organization must vary considerably, according to the tasks different knowledge workers perform.