Managing IT for Business Value
Investments in IT must be linked to overall business benefits. This means that the investments should not be viewed simply as technology projects, but as projects that generate business value and innovation across the organization. The Managing IT for Business Value macro-capability provides a structure within which the IT function provides the rationale for investment in IT and measures the business benefits accruing from it.
Critical Capabilities
- BARBenefits Assessment and Realization
The Benefits Assessment and Realization (BAR) capability is the ability to forecast, realize, and sustain value from IT-enabled change initiatives. The Benefits Assessment and Realization (BAR) capability covers:
- Establishing systematic, objective, and consistent approaches to managing benefits across the full investment life cycle for IT-enabled change — that is, from benefits forecasting and planning, to benefits reviewing and reporting.
- Identifying and advocating cultural and behavioural changes to maximize the value of IT-enabled change.
- PMPortfolio Management
The Portfolio Management (PM) capability is the ability to monitor, track, and analyse the programmes in the IT portfolio, and to report on their status. The Portfolio Management (PM) capability covers:
- Monitoring and tracking the progress and impact of programmes within the portfolio.
- Reviewing the programmes in the portfolio for adherence to the original business case.
- Monitoring utilization rates against planned resource allocations, including financial, technical, and people resources.
- Providing the Portfolio Planning and Prioritization (PPP) capability with an up-to-date portfolio status, including any deviations beyond a defined threshold on progress and expected impact.
- TCOTotal Cost of Ownership
The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) capability is the ability to identify, compare, and control all direct and indirect costs associated with IT assets and IT-enabled business services. The Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) capability covers:
- Identifying and analysing IT costs across asset and service life cycles, from acquisition to operations, enhancements, and end of life.
- Identifying all costs that both directly and indirectly affect the bottom line — for example hardware and software acquisition, management and support, communications, training, end-user expenses, the opportunity cost of downtime, and other productivity losses.
- Establishing a common methodology for comparing costs within and across IT assets, processes, and services.