Aligning IT with the Business: Banco Comercial Português and Continental Bank

The rapid growth of Banco Comercial Português (BCP) is one of the great success stories of European banking during the last decade. On the other side of the Atlantic, Continental Bank became the first money-centre bank to completely outsource its IT when it signed an outsourcing agreement with IBM in 1991. This case describes how each bank approaches the issue of aligning IT with the business and draws some general conclusions from a comparative analysis of their experiences.

The primary aim of this case is to highlight important management actions which can be taken to integrate an organization's IT and business strategies. While the lessons of the case are equally applicable to organizations from all sectors - public and private, business and industry - the case is particularly relevant for the banking industry.