Meridith:
 
I agree 100%.  The problem arises, however, when the company or organization in my case has no strategy, then what.  It's hard to determine this during the interview process. Not a happy position to be in.
 
Bill

Some of this depends on your definition of "IT Strategy" or "Execution Methods" but conceptually I like it! This is an interesting point of view and in general, I whole-heartedly agree. However, I believe it’s not a 100% solution. While IT absolutely needs to be about achieving business strategy, that’s the “external view” or how the delivery of IT services shows up in the business. There’s also an “internal view” of the IT organization and I believe it’s there you need some stated strategies, although they certainly don’t need to be very complicated. One place where I believe you need an internal IT strategy is Security. Notice I didn’t say “Information Security” because the lines between the classic “Physical” security and “Information” security have blurred significantly in recent years, especially for the Utility industry. With the new Critical Infrastructure Protection initiatives coming from DHS and the resulting efforts by NERC to enforce them, I would argue every energy company needs a pretty well-develop Security Strategy, and the IT security strategy is often a key starting point for that.
There is also the two-sided curse/benefit of SOX compliance. Depending on who your external auditor is, your SOX compliance effort may well drive the need for some IT strategy, again most of it internal to the IT organization and how it operates.
I agree with Kumud in principle, IT has gone way too far in trying to develop “IT strategies” that either mean nothing in the larger business context or even worse, go against the business strategy. But IT is a business within the business and some parts of it need an internal strategy if for no other reason than to make sure all those techies are pulling in the same direction!
Steve

Finally, an IT executive that I completely agree with.

Having an IT strategy has always seemed backwards to me. Every corporation should have a business strategy, and IT is there to help achieve it. An IT plan isn't a strategy, but rather a set of operational tactics that helps guide the successful implementation of the business strategy.

My compliments to Kumud Kalia at Direct Energy for executing what we all inherently know is the ultimate purpose of IT.

In my experience a lot of organizations realize that they do not have a clearly defined business strategy that IT should align to. My recommendation in those situations is for IT and the business to partner because those are the areas where IT could really add value and potentially help grow the business or make it more profitable.

Regards,

In principle I agree wholeheartedly. There is one problem though that several posters already have pointed out- there very often is no (applicable to IT) business strategy. Especially in larger groups where there is no single business and where IT is operating as shared service, trying to balance the needs of different businesses and still having to plan ahead. But as a value, principle- this should be on the wall of every IT.