Raise your Glasses - the Water's Magic! Strategic IT at SA Water: A Case Study in Alignment, Outsourcing and Governance

Authors

Alan Thorogood, Australian Graduate School of Management, UNSW, Sydney, Australia;Follow
Philip Yetton, CORDS Limited, Sydney, Australia;
Anthony Vlasic, Australian Graduate School of Management, UNSW, Sydney, Australia;
Joan Spiller, Welsearch Limited, Melbourne, Australia

Document Type

Case

Abstract

The South Australian Water case study illustrates the management challenges in aligning Information Technology with business objectives in a publicly owned corporation. To achieve the alignment, the new CIO begins by refreshing the IT infrastructure to support the required business applications. When the Government establishes ‘Improved water quality’ as a major corporate goal, the CIO seeks to add value to the business by developing a quality reporting system that leverages the existing technology. At the same time, he demonstrates to the corporation the IT function's capability to deliver business value through the management of multiple outsourcing vendors.

DOI

10.1057/palgrave.jit.2000017

Recommended Citation

Thorogood, Alan; Yetton, Philip; Vlasic, Anthony; and Spiller, Joan (2004) "Raise your Glasses - the Water's Magic! Strategic IT at SA Water: A Case Study in Alignment, Outsourcing and Governance," Journal of Information Technology: Vol. 19: Iss. 2, Article 4.
DOI: 10.1057/palgrave.jit.2000017
Available at: https://aisel.aisnet.org/jit/vol19/iss2/4