Comment Article

360°IT – Ask not what projects can do for IT...

By Clive Longbottom, Service Director, Quocirca Ltd

Too often, IT departments are told to make to be teased out and communicated in the best
greater savings, do more with less or put possible manner.
projects on the back boiler as the business tries
to balance the books while still leaving money for Any change should only go ahead if it has an
what is sees as more important business overall positive impact on the business - not just
investments. on a particular individual or group. Of course,
the domino effect can mean a change affecting
But hang on - isn't IT a business investment? If one group also has a significant impact on the
an organisation sees it as something separate, overall business - but we shouldn't confuse the
only there as a 'nice to have', it deserves two. Any arguments for changes to the IT
everything that happens to it. Moreover, any IT platform should be couched in terms that make
department that has allowed this situation to sense to the business as a whole.
develop should hang its head in shame - it has
effectively managed to divorce itself from the It is certainly possible to create a business case
business and is essentially viewed as an external rapidly and effectively, but you need to look at
provider. And, as we all know, when times are what Quocirca calls the Total Value Proposition
bad it's external providers that get squeezed. (TVP). Any change in an organisation will be
aimed at lowering cost, lowering risk and/or
But, for any organisation to manage its way increasing value to the business. Cost and risk
through a recession and be ready for the good are the easy ones to understand, but how about
times again, certain investments must continue 'value'? Value can be more ephemeral, yet it
through the bad times. Firms just have to should ultimately lead to one of two things:
manage these investments more effectively and selling more of the same (at the same or greater
ensure they get the best bang per buck from any margin), or selling something new at an
project given the go ahead. adequate margin.

This is where I see many IT departments If a proposed change in the business can be
suffering. They may recognise that some new shown to move these value/risk/cost variables in
technology or architecture could be of use - but the right direction, it becomes far easier to get
they don't know how best to get this across to the go-ahead for any investment. You can
the business. After all, they are getting little help download a paper here which uses data centre
from the vendor community, who still spout a infrastructure management as an example of
mix of technology gobbledygook ("The new X- how a business case can be built up in this way.
B200T runs at 3.6GHz, supports 1Pb of in-line
memory and manages 2 Bronto-FLOPS!") and Through the use of such an approach, IT can not
marketing non-speak ("The X-B200T offers the only gain the ability to run more projects but can
lowest TCO of any item on the market, and has also be seen by the business as being central to
an average ROI of under 7 minutes..."). core decision-making and business change. All it
needs is the capability to talk more of the
Such messages are less than compelling to the business's language - and to present any change
business - particularly if the main benefit is that in the terms that the business understands.
life will be easier for the IT function because of
better management systems, modelling or Quocirca has a free report available on the
whatever. These areas can still have a positive subject here.
impact on the wider business - but benefits need

© 2010 Quocirca Ltd http://www.quocirca.com +44 118 948 3360

 About Quocirca
Quocirca is a primary research and analysis company specialising in the business impact of information technology
and communications (ITC). With world-wide, native language reach, Quocirca provides in-depth insights into the
views of buyers and influencers in large, mid-sized and small organisations. Its analyst team is made up of real-
world practitioners with first hand experience of ITC delivery who continuously research and track the industry and
its real usage in the markets.

Through researching perceptions, Quocirca uncovers the real hurdles to technology adoption – the personal and
political aspects of an organisation’s environment and the pressures of the need for demonstrable business value in
any implementation. This capability to uncover and report back on the end-user perceptions in the market enables
Quocirca to advise on the realities of technology adoption, not the promises.

Quocirca research is always pragmatic, business orientated and conducted in the context of the bigger picture. ITC
has the ability to transform businesses and the processes that drive them, but often fails to do so. Quocirca’s
mission is to help organisations improve their success rate in process enablement through better levels of
understanding and the adoption of the correct technologies at the correct time.

Quocirca has a pro-active primary research programme, regularly surveying users, purchasers and resellers of ITC
products and services on emerging, evolving and maturing technologies. Over time, Quocirca has built a picture of
long term investment trends, providing invaluable information for the whole of the ITC community.

Quocirca works with global and local providers of ITC products and services to help them deliver on the promise
that ITC holds for business. Quocirca’s clients include Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, O2, T-Mobile, HP, Xerox, EMC,
Symantec and Cisco, along with other large and medium sized vendors, service providers and more specialist
firms.

Details of Quocirca’s work and the services it offers can be found at

http://www.quocirca.com

© 2010 Quocirca Ltd http://www.quocirca.com +44 118 948 3360