Can IT and Business be aligned

The notion of trying to align IT with the "business needs" bears some scrutiny

When you build a house you do need to ensure that the adjacent walls are well aligned to ensure the house structure is firm and wont fall part . The ability to align is dependent on both walls having straight lines

Neither  IT or the business  have clear sharp edges that enable the two to be “aligned “. Both have fuzzy,  ill defined edges that are incapable of being aligned  

If they cant be aligned then what ?

IT and the business do have a very  symbiotic relationship. Both are mutually dependent on each other. They both shape each other in the continuous dance of "evolve and adapt".

Think of where Walmart would be without the bar code to collect data , the satellites on the roofs of Walmart stores to transmit the data and the data warehouse systems to analyze the data and provide some meaning , the large computers to process the information and the massive storage to store and archive.  

If it were not for all these IT elements Walmart would not have become the $400 billion behemoth

Now try to imagine where IT would be if it were not for Walmarts needs driving it endlessly to innovate and improve .  All the IT elements were shaped by Walmart evolving needs.

Such is the nature of this successful symbiotic relationship.

IT and the business community don’t need to be and indeed cant be aligned   They do however need to learn how to co exist as two healthy organisms in this organic and mutually supportive relationship