Keeping technology initiatives aligned with business direction is a challenge facing every company, but the larger the company, the bigger the challenge will be. As a global corporation with multiple subsidiaries, United Parcel Service Inc. (UPS) has faced the challenge and fashioned an award-winning IT organization consistently aligned with the company's core business strategy.

UPS formed an information and technology strategy committee (ITSC) composed of senior managers from all functional areas within the company. ITSC was chartered with the tasks of studying the impacts and application of new technologies and possible business opportunities. The group's ongoing role is to consider where technology is going next and how UPS's current generation of technology can be improved upon.

Another cross-functional committee has approval and oversight on all projects and programs, while a senior executive heads them and an IT owner helps prioritize needs and resource requirements across functions. Projects are prioritized on the basis of the strength of their business cases (e.g., service to UPS customers) and financial metrics (e.g., return on investment, net present value), but nonfinancial metrics are also considered so that noncore projects can be given adequate resources.

UPS also formed an IT governance committee to oversee day-to-day IT operations. In addition to formalizing the project prioritization and budgeting processes, the IT governance committee established standards and designed the architecture, policing itself to ensure that all work was in tune with business requirements and direction. Composed of the chief information officer and senior IT managers, the IT governance committee more closely aligns IT to the business, establishing stringent management processes and enforcing technology standards and processes. The committee has oversight into all key IT decisions and provides a forum to raise critical issues.¹