Informed CIO: IT Cost Transparency
Know Your Costs: The Key to IT Business
To thrive in an era of economic challenges and dramatic changes to the IT function, organizations need a better handle on what’s driving costs and how to allocate them across business units. Cloud computing, growth in Internet-based business and the shift to IT services add new twists to an already complex task. The most important step organizations can take is to improve cost transparency through effective use of information.
As economic uncertainty continues, many IT organizations find themselves in the budget-cutting crosshairs. Not mincing words, CEOs and CFOs want to know why the firm is spending so much on IT and what can be done to bring costs down. They’ve heard about cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS); they know about outsourcing; they want to know if these alternatives to internal IT systems can save costs. What do CIOs need to know to answer these questions?
Table of Contents
4 Author’s Bio
5 Executive Summary
7 Wanted: Better IT Business Management
7 Figure 1: Primary Business Priority
8 Are current tools and methods adequate?
9 What other kinds of tools and SaaS options are relevant?
10 Top 10 Concerns of CIO
11 How can IT create an authoritative source of data?
12 What is the first step in using a system of record to provide visibility?
12 Are chargeback models and processes sufficient?
13 What type of services could a system-of-record support?
14 What can organizations do to improve cost management?
15 What is the role of activity-based costing?
16 How should organizations adjust IT business management?
About the Author
David Stodder is an analyst and writer focused on business intelligence, analytics, and information management. He is a research fellow with Ventana Research, where he was previously vice president and research director with a concentration on information management, operational intelligence and IT performance management. He was the founding chief editor of Intelligent Enterprise. He can be reached at dstodder@gmail.com.
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