business benefits

Launching successful projects

Mon, 14 May 2007 20:01:39 -0400

The most successful projects deliver tangible business value in the first 30 days. By quickly delivering value business people can immediately use, stakeholders can see clear evidence that the project is headed in the right direction and will live up to expectations. Another way to ensure that stakeholders see value immediately is to keep the scope narrow by delivering 20 percent of the capabilities that provide 80 percent of the value. And keep it really simple; it's often better to build systems where the user interface is composed of common office productivity tools like spreadsheets, web browsers, word processing, and personal databases. People already know how to use these tools so there is much less of a learning curve. IT agility like this delivers major business benefits at a fraction of the time and cost otherwise incurred if companies go the conventional route of buying and installing large, complex, all-in-one packages.

Read more about successful IT projects:
- read the blog at CIO

ALSO:
- read this on why too many software projects invite trouble
- and this for tales of projects that crashed and burned

Social responsibility: a CIO function

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 20:01:39 -0400

According to a survey by market research firm AMR Research, CIOs aren't taking an active enough role in their companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Often, the data and information needed to prioritize CSR investments and measure its impact are spread across organizations in disparate systems and databases. It's the CIO's responsibility to take ownership of this problem. For example, a successful CSR initiative would include information accessed from a company's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system--something CIOs should recognize and incorporate. But as companies realize the business benefits, CSR is becoming a front-of-mind issue for many organizations. That should change the way that CIOs view CSR over time.

For more about the importance of CSR:
- read the article at ZDNet

Success with SOA means showing stakeholders the benefits

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 20:01:36 -0400

The major hurdle for SOA deployments is getting the organization to understand the architecture and the business benefits that it will bring. To overcome these barriers, make sure to keep stakeholders informed and implement the technology in a real way with real business benefits. Also, get to know your partners' processes at a high level before developing the detail of how the infrastructure will work.

Learn more about successful SOA projects:
- read the article at Silicon.com

ALSO:
- read this on whether SOA will work in your environment
- this on the basics of SOA
- this on the four stages of successful SOA
- this on whether SOA will help or hinder the alignment of business and IT
- and this on taking it slow with SOA deployments

Getting to the next level

Wed, 14 Mar 2007 20:01:39 -0400

Reaching the top rung isn't easy, but it's doable. Promote yourself by getting people's attention and demonstrating the benefits of your projects and plans to the business. Move out of your comfort zone by taking charge of a project in another areas of the company, or transferring temporarily to another division. Improve your visibility by sitting on the board of the company. Become more decisive and be confident. Think strategy, not support, by focusing on the business benefits of IT and improving communication between IT and other departments. Sharpen up your office politics by observing the "power map" of office relations and embrace networking. Also, be proactive, talk about benefits rather than IT, and recruit business-minded people.

Learn more about going for the top spot:
- read the article at ComputerWeekly

ALSO:
- read this about clawing your way to the top
- and this on climbing the corporate ladder
- and this on climbing the executive ladder

Quantifying the business value of IT

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 19:01:39 -0500

Technology is the glue that holds organizations together and helps them remain profitable, yet it's often difficult to justify the cost of implementing, maintaining and upgrading that technology. In most cases, executives must estimate the value of their IT investments to justify them instead of coming up with hard numbers. To solve this problem, organizations need a way to link project costs to the resulting business benefits. The best way to do that is by following four steps: Map business goals to IT capabilities, categorize your IT capabilities, estimate the economic benefits, and then weigh the costs against those benefits.

Read CSC's take on how to analyze technology investments in business terms:
- read the article at Optimize

Do what it takes to make IT governance stick

Wed, 24 Jan 2007 19:01:36 -0500

Although it is often very difficult for CIOs and other IT professionals to explain the business benefits of IT governance, doing so is worth the effort--no matter what it takes. Making a case means reduced costs and better management. Read on for some unorthodox but effective tactics for making an IT governance case.

Read the article at Computerworld

Failed projects leading to IT budget drain?

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 19:01:36 -0500

A CIO Connect census has found that 90 percent of CIOs believe IT projects aren't being properly executed by business, leading to wasted money and resources. The solution, says Nick Kirkland, managing director of CIO Connect, is better project governance. "It is about understanding who is responsible for delivering the business benefits, how the project team is going to work together from their different disciplines, and making that stick," he said. Improving communication between IT and business--and defining what counts as success and failure--is critical in order to avoid misused resources.

For more:
- read the ITWeek report