Assessing Business and IT Alignment in Educational Organizations

Abstract

The alignment of information technology (IT) and business processes and strategy is still a relevant area of concern in many organizations. Educational institutions are no exception to this, with low alignment maturity being reported. This paper reports a study into the business and IT alignment maturity of the Dutch Vocational Education and Training sector. A survey study was undertaken to assess the alignment maturity levels in these organizations, as a baseline for further development. In the study, the following questions were put forward: - Is alignment in the educational sector really as low and problematic as can be concluded from earlier studies? - If alignment in the education sector is low, is it because of lack of ambition or because of lack of ability? - Do different education organizations have different levels of alignment? The study shed some light on the answers to these questions and provided a practical development path for the participation organizations.