Business-IT alignment in municipalities – The Swiss case

Huge challenges face municipalities (in Switzerland) today, not merely as administrative units but also in the context of rapid technological development in information technology. There are calls for the increased implementation of E-government solutions. The relationship between business activities and IT ('busi-ness-IT alignment') plays a central role in this. This paper considers the rela-tionship between the use of IT solutions and the business activities of municipal authorities in general and specifically in the German speaking part of Switzerland. In this paper we investigate business-IT alignment using a deductive method that employs a survey and the development of a simple model on the basis of which exploratory bivariate relationships between different factors can be tested. The results of the empirical survey conducted in virtually all Swiss German-speaking municipalities. Business-IT alignment is more of an issue the larger the municipality. Based on this study, it can be concluded that business-IT alignment is being implemented in the following six (IT) areas: definitions of roles, competencies, tasks and responsibilities, artefacts required for IT management, sourcing, documentation artefacts, standards and frameworks. The results show significant indications that these artefacts and subjects/roles make a significant contribution to user satisfaction and hence to business-IT alignment.