Integration maturity model: what stage are you in today?

Introducing a new or upgraded business application frequently results in poor integration across business processes. As you can see from what I call the Law of Technology Injection, poor integration can mess up an otherwise decent business process. Poor integration contributes to the disconnect between IT-spend and IT-results. It is therefore a significant reason for the ongoing move to BT (business technology).

In their book Enterprise Architecture as Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution, Jeanne W. Ross, Peter Weill, and David C. Robertson describe four stages of integration maturity. Stage 1 is the Silo stage, when local business managers or users articulate the need for an application to support their business needs. Stage 2 is when IT leaders assume greater leadership across the company. The authors go on to define two more stages of increasing maturity.

Based on my observation of some 500 international software initiatives from business process and user perspectives, I know that a substantial percentage of enterprises continue to stay at the Silo stage. But, where do you think your organization or practice is, currently? It would be helpful if you could share your thoughts here.