"If IT and the business are not aligned from the start, somebody must be doing something wrong," he says. "Nobody talks about finance-business alignment or marketing-business alignment, so why do organisations persist in talking about the IT-business alignment as if they're separate entities with little relationship to each other?"

Swinbourne was instrumental in developing the systems for the budget airline, Jetstar, when it launched in Australia and says the experience showed him the value of having IT as an integral part of the commercial team. Working literally alongside other parts of the business, the team was able to develop innovative products that have become part and parcel of today's airline experience, such as seat selection.

"We turned on membership functionality on day one," he recalls. In its early stages, the functionality allowed customers to simply enter their details and sign up for marketing information.

Jetstar gained about 100,000 members in its first month. Within 12 months, that figure had skyrocketed to 750,000 and, today, the airline boasts more than 2.5 million members.

partner, Jed Simms, who along with colleague Vince Gill co-authored the paper, says the issue is that the business case is seen by most organisations as a financial document that therefore comes under the auspices of finance.