Grootschalige verspilling ICT-budgetten

[Henk Elegeert]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

http://www.mediaplaza.nl


Media Plaza nieuwsbrief

"
Grootschalige verspilling ICT-budgetten

Afgelopen dinsdag was het Prinsjesdag en de plannen van het kabinet om
extra te investeren in kennis en innovatie juich ik van harte toe.
Investeringen als deze zijn voor de BV Nederland noodzakelijk om
internationaal te kunnen concurreren. Het programma 'ICT in Sectoren' -
waarbij 80 miljoen euro wordt geïnvesteerd én de voorgenomen
investeringen van 20 miljoen in de sleutelgebieden Water, Flowers &
Food, High-tech Materials en Creatieve Industrie van het Innovatie
Platform - zijn een mooie opsteker.

Dan hoop ik wel dat dit bedrag effectief wordt geïnvesteerd. Hiermee
doel ik op het onderzoek over de effectiviteit van ICT-investeringen,
dat de Butler Group deze week publiceerde. De uitkomsten zijn ronduit
schrikbarend! Slechts acht procent van de ICT-projecten levert een
positieve bijdrage aan de verbetering van de concurrentiepositie van een
organisatie. Dat betekent dat maar liefst 92 procent de doelstellingen
onvoldoende bereikt. Dit kan én moet beter. Een mogelijke oplossing is
volgens de onderzoekers een andere zienswijze; momenteel wordt er teveel
gefocust op kostenbesparing. De nadruk moet in de toekomst komen te
liggen op verbetering van de operationele slagkracht en het aanboren van
nieuwe markten. Hierdoor kan de concurrentiepositie verbeterd worden en
de investeringseffectiviteit stijgt naverwant. Laten we nu het
economisch weer beter gaat, de ontstane investeringsruimte niet ten
koste van een inefficiënt investeringsbeleid laten gaan. Laat het
onderzoek een wake-up call zijn om vooral doelmatig en met visie te
investeren.

Wim van Rooijen
Directeur Media Plaza
"


http://www.butlergroup.com/company/press/docview.asp?id=160
"
  92% of the IT budget squandered on initiatives that bring little
competitive advantage or value to the Enterprise

Most organisations have no idea whether investments in IT are providing
increased efficiency, added value, or competitive advantage, due to an
absence of measurement

London, 20 September, 2005 - The effectiveness of IT investments is a
very significant factor in the ability of IT to provide value. Yet a new
report ‘Measuring IT Costs and Value - Maximising the Effectiveness of
IT Investment’, just published by Butler Group, Europe's leading IT
research and advisory organisation, identifies that in many
organisations just 8% of the IT budget is actually spent on initiatives
that bring value to the enterprise. The report says IT management must
make a conscious effort to measure and monitor IT investment. Once
understood, IT management should then endeavour to increase the
proportion of spending on enhancements and new services designed to
transform the organisation or grow its overall value.

"An inordinate amount of IT executive time seems to be expended on
measuring and controlling costs rather than focusing resources on
initiatives that will add value to the organisation”, says Mark Blowers,
Butler Group Senior Research Analyst and co-author of the study. “Those
IT departments capable of measuring performance are in the minority.
Small wonder then that IT remains isolated, misunderstood, and treated
simply as a cost centre by senior management. This absence of
measurement means that most organisations have no idea whether
investments in IT are providing increased efficiency, added value, or
competitive advantage."

IT management lacks focus on understanding the organisation’s value
drivers and corresponding IT capability

There is increasing prominence being placed on the ability of IT
deliverables to match organisation objectives. Unfortunately, there
still appears to be a lack of focus by IT management on understanding
the organisation’s main value drivers and corresponding IT capability.
Without this it is impossible to formulate an IT strategy that will meet
the organisation’s needs. IT must improve transparency and visibility,
with accountability for performance related to organisation value drivers.

"Most organisations have very little visibility into IT performance.
This needs to change, due in no small part to the growing compliance and
regulatory pressures, which means IT management having the ability to
prove the department is being run effectively and offering value," says
Blowers. "To provide this transparency and accountability many
enterprises are turning to governance as an important mechanism for
controlling the organisation. The deployment of IT governance is
recommended for providing a framework for measuring IT costs."

The absence of tools and methods is a major contributor to the lack of
successful measurement

To enable IT management to get their message across to stakeholders and
internal staff good communications are paramount. This is where methods
such as Enterprise Architecture, business cases, and Balanced Scorecards
come into their own. A well-prepared business case is a way of putting
forward project details in a standard format, which helps purvey
professional competency and makes it easier to compare projects.
Balanced Scorecards can provide a mechanism for monitoring and conveying
IT performance that simply encapsulates the state of the IT environment.

In order to provide the required levels of transparency IT management
must put in place the foundations of well-managed IT assets, comprising
infrastructure, processes, and skills, along with the use of automation,
which form very important enablers for successful measurement processes.
  Ad hoc manual methods based on spreadsheets are no longer acceptable
or a practicable solution; especially as data quality for accurate and
comprehensive IT reporting is now crucial.

“In order to reach the required level of consistency the deployment of
an integrated toolset and common repository must be an area of focus, as
is the setting up of feedback loops and dashboards”, says Blowers.
“Organisations have become quite competent at measuring IT costs, but
not the value. It is imperative that IT management is able to gain an
understanding of the level of IT spending that brings value to the
organisation. The challenge for IT management is to supply services that
can support the organisation’s growth requirements, whilst minimising
the amount spent on running IT.”
...

"

Henk Elegeert

**********
Dit bericht is verzonden via de informele D66 discussielijst (D66 at nic.surfnet.nl).
Aanmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SUBSCRIBE D66 uwvoornaam uwachternaam
Afmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SIGNOFF D66
Het on-line archief is te vinden op: http://listserv.surfnet.nl/archives/d66.html
**********