Despite an extensive body of research on Business-IT alignment, insight into the practices through which alignment can be realized in organizations is still relatively scarce. The interpretation of alignment as a coevolution process provides insight into the principles through which a persistent aligning of business and IT may be achieved. However, the incorporation of these principles into corporate practice is still limited. In this paper, we address this gap, by combining insights from the literature with the empirical findings from five case studies. We identify four principles of coevolution, and 14 alignment practices through which these principles are operationalized. We also discuss how these principles and practices are interconnected. This paper contributes to filling the gap between theoretical alignment principles and operational practices that exists in literature. Identification of principles and practices and understanding their connection provides operational guidance for organizations to successfully shape the process of aligning business and IT.