Achieving Business Value From Technology

InhaltsangabeAchieving Business Value from Technology offers the expert guidance, real-world advice, and practical methodology managers need to ensure that their dollars aren't wasted on IT disasters. It shows them how to assess projects in real time and decide whether to alter, abandon, or continue them with a clear understanding of likely impact on the business. With the increasing importance of technology in a business world redefined by globalization, high-octane competition, and the shift from mass production to mass customization, it's more important than ever that your IT dollars are well spent in pursuit of efficiency, adaptability, and market mobility. Knowing which initiatives offer real business value can be the competitive advantage your business needs to thrive. Simply put, no matter what your business is, IT is your business. Achieving Business Value from Technology offers proven techniques, methodologies, governance mechanisms, and best practice guidelines to guarantee your money is transforming your current IT setup from potential value to real value. The approach offered in this book-and developed by the experts in Gartner's Consulting and Measurement practices-has been proven to help managers make the right IT decisions every time. Author Tony Murphy outlines a systematic process managers can use to identify, track, and realize benefits and value from their IT investments. This methodology helps management bridge the traditional gap between the business and IT sides of the organization and incorporates IT value metrics into conventional management reporting systems. Managers will learn to monitor opportunities, risks, and impediments at all stages of the investment cycle and rest assured that the money they invest in IT will bring long-lasting and measurable benefits to the organization. The author also provides guidelines for undertaking post-implementation benefit audits and IT sourcing, as well as tips and techniques for optimizing asset management and minimizing ongoing total cost of ownership.

InhaltsangabeIntroduction. Chapter 1: Industrial Age Thinking for Information Age Problems. Business Value from Information Technology (BVIT)-A Large and Growing Problem. Learning from Case Studies. What Do These Case Studies Have in Common? Some Historical Perspective. Drawing Conclusions from These Changes. Revisiting the Case Studies. Industrial Age Thinking for Information Age Problems. The Limitations of Financial Metrics. The Value of Financial Techniques for IT Investment Appraisal. What Else Do We Need? Summary. Chapter 2: The Five Pillars of Benefits Realization. Pillar 1: Strategic Alignment. Pillar 2: Business Process Impact. Pillar 3: Architecture. Pillar 4: Direct Payback. Pillar 5: Risk. Summary. Chapter 3: P2-Process. Step 1: Setting the Ground Rules. Step 2: Defining IT Value Standards. Step 3: IT Value Analysis. Step 4: IT Value Project Management. Step 5: IT Value Achievement. Step 6: IT Value Management. Selecting Specific Products and Vendors. Refinements. Sensitivity Analysis. Investment Scope. Summary. Chapter 4: P3-People. RolesA Foundation Stone of Effective Governance. The IT Council. The IT Investment Board. The Office of Architecture and Standards. The Project Office. Summary and Next Steps. Appendix A: Sample Value Standards. Strategic Alignment. Payback. Architecture. Business Process Impact. Risk. Appendix B: Sample Value Standards Scoring Metrics. Business Process Impact. Architecture. Risk. Appendix C: Completed Weightings. Appendix D: From the Field-Investment Case Worked Example. Appendix E: Quantifying End-User Benefits. Preliminary Information. Opening the Meeting. Resolution of Inconsistencies. Quantifying the Benefits. Refine Quantification. CrossVerification. Appendix F: Gartner Recommended Approach to Risk Management. Collaborative Risk Management. Risk Assessment Processes. Predictability and Complexity of Risks. Summary. Appendix G: Analytical Hierarchy Process/Analysis. Appendix H: Probability Analysis (Monte Carlo Simulation). Appendix I: Gartner Approach to Change Management: Strategic Planning Assumption. The Need for Change Management. The Human Response to Change. Appendix J: Financial Metrics. Net Present Value (NPV). Internal Rate of Return (IRR). Index.

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