Managing IT As An Investment

Scott Abel writes "Itâ(TM)s no secret. To win at business, you must perform better than your competition. Better. Stronger. Faster. You get the picture. In Managing IT as an Investment: Partnering for Success, Ken Moskowitz and Harris Kern explore how changing the way you think about IT can help you develop solutions that exceed your strategic goals. To achieve the highest levels of profitability, the authors say, IT organizations must be well-tuned and in alignment with the goals of the enterprise to which they belong." Read on for the rest of Scott's review. Managing IT As An Investment: Partnering for Success author Ken Moskowitz, Harris Kern pages 150+ publisher Prentice Hall PTR rating 9 reviewer Scott Abel, Content Management Strategist ISBN 013009627X summary How changing the way you think about IT can help you develop solutions that exceed your strategic goals.

For far too long, the authors argue, IT has been incorrectly viewed as a separate part of the enterprise; a distant silo, relegated to the status of a âoecost center.â Instead, the authors make the case for transforming IT into a âoevalue centerâ â" a mission-critical member of the business enterprise, managed as a strategic asset.

In order to get there -â" and to maximize IT value -â" the authors say organizations must realize that âoeIT is inseparable from the business and requires complete alignment with business goals.â Then, they have to admit that thereâ(TM)s âoeno such thing as an IT project.â

âoeIT is no longer a cost center and a growing number of highly successful firms are recognizing this,â the authors say. âoeIT is an investment and should be managed as such to increase revenue and profits. No matter what size project, IT is a member of the business team and should be accountable and responsible.â

Getting past old-world ways of thinking can be difficult for business and IT-minded folks alike; such transformations are often riddled with unexpected organizational change management issues. Moskowitz and Kern do a nice job of exploring some of these difficulties at a high level, but leave plenty of room for in-depth exploration by other authors.

They introduce readers to âoeConsequence-Based Thinkingâ in Chapter 2, a concept that promotes decision-making based on desired business results, rather than on the IT problems you face. The authors explore ways you can avoid âoethe Right/Wrong trapâ (situations in which humans forfeit the desired consequences for the privilege of being right), develop jointly produced business cases (âoea technology case is not sufficientâ), and help each department in your organization contribute to the success of the enterprise mission.

In Chapter Three, âoePartnering,â the authors illustrate the importance of creating a team that will support the goals of the enterprise. âoeIt is key that members of IT teams see themselves and their work as core to the business itself, and not view the IT function as an appendage of the business.â As this happens, the authors say, âoeothers will view them (IT) as critical and necessary partners that can be trusted to provide solutions that donâ(TM)t merely serve a process, but truly serve business outcomes.â

Business partners must change the way they think of themselves as well. Business must think of itself as âoea partner with, rather than a customer of IT,â the authors say. They recommend the development of formalized contracts that spell out responsibility and accountability for all involved; a âoecommon vocabularyâ (to help get everyone in your organization, regardless of role, on the same page); and provide words to the wise for management: âoemanagers will never have as much information as people on the front line.â

Sizeable emphasis is placed on the importance of jointly developed business cases, which the authors say, âoeforces IT and business to engage in continuous dialog in order to ensure success.â Jointly developed business cases can help align IT with business objectives, and have the additional benefit of âoemoving the business agenda forward and creating partnerships and understanding.â A sample Business Case template is provided as an appendix.

Chapter Five, âoeStrategyâ makes the case for building a big-picture strategy that âoestresses an enterprise point of view over seat-of-the-pants, silo thinking.â Organizations without an enterprise strategy often end up creating what the authors call âoeislands of automationâ that will later need to be integrated.

Strategic thinking is a skill and not something that comes easily. It involves adopting new processes and changing the way we think about our jobs. By adopting a âoeBusiness Strategy Formation Processâ that relates an enterprise-to-an-individual and an individual-to-an-enterprise, the authors say organizations can make âoeconsistent decisions that incorporate foresight.â

Chapter Six, âoeThe Small Picture,â provides guidance on communicating the âoebig pictureâ to âoesmall pictureâ folks by answering the question: âoeWhatâ(TM)s in it for me?â Chapter Seven discusses ideas for setting up and managing IT departments as âoevalue centersâ while Chapter Eight, âoeHuman Capital Managementâ deals with issues of people management, individualism, and job satisfaction.

Chapter Nine, âoeInvesting In Values,â provides a brief overview of the importance of values, which the authors define as the âoeguiding principles and basic beliefs that are fundamental assumptions on which subsequent actions are based.â The authors provide several models to help you make which value decisions. They also discuss how to reap âoethe hidden harvestââ"the rewards delivered through collaborating with others toward a common, understood and measurable goal, benefits not realized through traditional, inside-the-box thinking.

While Managing IT as an Investment is indeed a value-added resource, reading the book is not enough. Youâ(TM)ll need to do a little homework before you go tackling a major change in your organization. Youâ(TM)ll need additional guidance not provided in the book to help you decide whether your IT and business staffs should work in the same physical space to help reduce communication barriers and establish a sense of âoeteamâ; if you should re-organize your management structure so both IT and business team members report to the same manager; how you should communicate information about your project in order to create project evangelists; and whether your reward structure needs some revamping (is IT currently rewarded for âoeon timeâ delivery as opposed to delivery of quality solutions that deliver the highest return on investment possible?).

Despite these weaknesses, Managing IT as an Investment: Partnering for Success is an excellent addition to both business and IT literature. At only 150+ pages â" 10 chapters, followed by 4 value-added appendices â" you can read the entire book in an afternoon. The book is well worth the effort. Includes case study information and references to other published works. Perfect for those involved in paradigm-shifting projects where strengthening the relationship between IT and business can help ensure success.

Scott Abel is a content management strategist. Look for his column, The Content Wrangler, on ePrairie.com. You can purchase the Managing IT As An Investment: Partnering for Success from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.

Comments

Just don't partner with MS

[BoomerSooner]

You'll be sorry. There is a reason Bill Gates is f'ing rich. Vulture mentality when it comes to competition.

BN link invalid

[no soup for you]

BN can't find the book -- Link to amazon

The ISBN is 013009627X

IT doesn't matter

[landtuna]

Nicholas Carr, writing in a recent Harvard Business Review article, probably wouldn't agree with Moskowitz and Kern.

Re:IT doesn't matter

[Anonymous Coward]

Here is Carr's pageabout his article "IT Doesn't Matter" and ensuing discussions concerning that article. Carr's article is available from Harvard Business Review only for a fee but the URL given here provides a number of links that delve into the details of Carr's hypothesis. While most of the URLs disagree with Carr, I believe he has has struck a nerve with both CEOs and IT managers everywhere. The impact of his article, coming at this crucial time for IT, cannot be overstate

Re:Loaded with cliche's

[mangino]

I agree with most of this, but I would disagree with "Cost Center". A cost center is a division within the enterprise that is measured based upon eliminating cost. IT is usually treated as a cost center because it does not directly generate profits or revenue (And is therefore not a profit or revenue center) and does not manage investments. Whether you think the company should be broken down this way or not is up to you, but the term is a real, established term.

Detachment

[Dalcius]

Detachment seems to be a common theme. Rule your company at such a high level that you don't see the details, right?

It really is weird, the trend I'm noticing... bosses get managers to handle certain projects, not caring how they're done as long as they're under budget. I know this isn't the same as replacing "being responsible" with "consequence based thinking", but the trend does seem to be all across the board.

Re:Geography 101

[stanmann]

Or you could interpret it as it would appear he meant (south-east)-Asia or India. Since we typically associate Asia with Japan, Korea, Taiwan.