As enterprises navigate the evolving landscape of MarTech, one aspect that can't be overlooked is Business and IT alignment. From my experience working with some of Denmark's top brands, I've seen firsthand the critical challenges caused by insufficient alignment when managing a complex MarTech stack.

Why is business and IT alignment crucial? 
The enterprise MarTech stack has evolved dramatically over the last 10 years. Today a typical Enterprise Customer Experience and Data Intelligence infrastructure contains a minimum of 30 different platforms – and often more, when you investigate the details of Paid Media, Commerce, Web/Mobile, Content Management, CRM and Advanced Analytics.
Platform ownership is often spread across multiple teams: Marketing, media, e-commerce, loyalty, data science, and IT development and operations. Clearly, true valuation creation requires an interconnected tech stack and cross functional teams, thus making Business and IT alignment a crucial MarTech discipline.

Three key factors for CMO and CIO to consider:

1) Define a business-driven MarTech architecture: Many enterprises have a MarTech stack that has evolved organically, platform by platform, without a clear target architecture. Taking a business-driven approach to define a MarTech architecture sets the business in the driver-seat and enables the IT organization to influence with good IT practice. 

2) Establish a MarTech governance system: Managing a MarTech stack is an ongoing process and the alignment between business and IT stakeholders does not stop with a MarTech architecture and roadmap. Establishing a robust MarTech governance system ensures that the delivery of the MarTech stack stays on track and that the operation delivers substantiable results.

3) Involve C-level in setting the direction: Modern enterprise governance of technology considers governance and management as separate, yet equally important, practices. The same goes for MarTech. Involving the C-level management in setting commercial direction, balance risk, and monitoring the results of MarTech investments provides the needed top-level alignment between business and IT. This approach will translate strategic commercial objectives into an actionable MarTech strategy.