Smart people can make stupid decisions. Case in point: business executives who decide they can address their technology needs without involving IT, responding to the IT supply-and-demand crunch that afflicts so many enterprises today. In my experience, nobody wins in these do-it-yourself projects.
There’s a chill in the air, the chill of fear. Sales and profits are down. A new CEO is in town. The head of manufacturing is gone, and the supply-chain head may be the next to roll -- unless she can deliver some wins. She has a plan: Rationalize the vendors, realign accountabilities, and roll out new technology to the field.
To get funding for IT-enabled projects, it's necessary to navigate the IT demand management process to prove that you are investing wisely in IT.
Nowadays, there is precious little money available for developing new IT capabilities. You do the math. Prior to the credit crisis, around 75 cents of each dollar was spent to keeping existing systems up and operational. Now, overlay the reductions due to the recession and the result is that a lot of business needs are chasing very few discretionary dollars.
Many believe that developing business cases for IT-enabled initiatives as a big waste of time.
Good news! Your project was approved.
Even better! Your funding was cut!
When it comes to IT project funding, less is often more.
There's a big difference between having a top priority and being ready to act on it.
A recent Wall Street Journal blog post mentioned that because of the current credit crunch, IT budgets are being slashed.
Shocker!
For many CFOs, it's like taking candy from a baby.
If IT has a dirty little secret, it's this: no one is accountable for IT investments.
One of my favorite Druckerisms is, "I have no interest in someone who plays the minute waltz in 56 seconds."
"How CIOs can engineer a 'tipping point' to speed up adoption of value management practices and prove—once and for all—that IT matters"
