Although business leaders see charge-backs as a way to drive down IT costs, there are other advantages, including improving capability as a business and being more in tune with IT. On the IT side, many believe cost transparency creates a closer partnership with the business; by charging back IT, you are essentially highlighting to business managers what IT is valuable to them and making them more aware of the consequences of their own IT consumption in a simple, transparent way. Charging back IT also gives business managers the information they need to make sound decisions. What's more, the practice also helps to change the perception of IT from being just an overhead or a cost center to a valuable contributor to the business. But if you're going to use charge-backs, make sure they're driven by the board and not solely by the finance or IT department. Second, the IT department must be capable of measuring usage of its own systems. And lastly, determine what level of detail IT usage should be measured in.

Read more about IT charge-backs:
- read the article at Computer Weekly