Organization’s Approach To IM IT Resources Questions

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1. Why consider an organization’s approach to IM/IT resources and services as an

exercise in portfolio management?

Student Response:

•

e.g. Forces you to relate specific IT investments with the associated business need(s) and

value propositions.

•

Allows an organization to create a link between IT investments made, a firm's business

strategy, and the desired long and short term returns on the investments to assess the

business value of the IT investment.

•

Offers a framework to balance the risk and rewards of IT investments in business terms.

•

Allows managers to make more informed decisions to assess current investments and

plan for future investment in IT resources.

•

Creates a common language or methodology for the organization to administer the

direction of the firm in order to improve performance.

•

Allows for comparison between your organization against benchmarks, as well as between

business units, to gage the appropriateness of strategic goals and risk levels.

•

Ability to re-weight investments as strategies change and to track adjustments over time in

a more transparent way.

2. What is meant by IM/IT portfolio management?

Student Response:

•

e.g. The organization has the following information resource management needs:

To transact

To manage, control, make tactical decisions

To innovate, transform, increase its strategic competitiveness

Control costs and improve overall performance

•

A process that organizes and supports a firm's IT resources with regards to their

investment.

•

It measures costs, benefits, and risks of investments, implementation, and use of IT

resources.

•

An integrated approach to align the business strategy with the combination of the short

and long-term return on the investment.

•

To effectively manage a structure of 4 distinct asset classes (Informational, Strategic,

Transactional, and Infrastructure) that create a risk-return profile in order to organize and

allocate investments based on business strategy and goals.

Informational to increase quality and margins by providing information, fostering

communication, reporting compliance with regulations, and analyzing customer

needs to make better decisions.

Strategic to gain a competitive advantage by supporting innovation, new business

value, and growth.

Transactional to reduce costs, increase productivity by automating repetitive actions

and streamlining normal business functions.

Infrastructure as an underlying foundation to reduce costs due to standardization and

consolidation and to provide a platform for initiatives.

3. According to the authors, how does an organization demonstrate its "IT savvy" and

how does this relate to achieving better or highest value IM/IT portfolio

performance? Assess the relevance of each one of these factors as an enabler of

competitive advantage.

The Elements of "IT Savvy"

Their Impact on the Organization's Competitive

Advantage

IT for communications both

internally and externally using e-

mail, intranets, and wireless

devices.

•

Integration and coordination within a firm

•

Collaboration - sharing knowledge with people located at

great distances from each other.

•

Mass communication - ability to reach a large number of

people

•

Influence - use of social networks to distribute

information using a simple, familiar process.

•

Information management - ability to harness e-mails, etc.

on a server to preserve for long periods of time.

Digitizing repetitive transactions

•

Time management - allows for better use of time of

skilled professionals by freeing them up from mundane

or routine tasks

•

Increases productivity

•

Cuts costs for certain business functions by automating

processes that do not require personnel (e.g. UPS

package tracking)

Internet Use

•

Sales force management

•

Employee performance measures

•

Training and post-sales customer support

Firm-wide IT skills

•

Increases knowledge base and capabilities of technical

and business skills of employees.

•

Better ability to troubleshoot and manage issues in a

timely fashion as they arise

•

Creates a common language for the business

•

Ability to adapt to new technologies and changes as they

arise

•

Organizational learning improved - promotes faster

learning for the next cycle of investments.

Involvement of business

management

•

Leadership has a better understanding of IT resources

and how they associate with the performance of the firm.

•

Allows for faster and easier changes and transitions

when allocations of resources need to be adjusted.

•

Allows for comparison among multiple business units

within the firm to make adjustments to the IT portfolio.

•

Practices of IT savvy business units can be shared and

transferred to lower IT savvy units.

•

Increases the chance incentives and rewards system to

be based on IT use and effectiveness

•

Provides greater accountability for the overall strategy

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1. Why consider an organization’s approach to IM/IT resources and services as an exercise in portfolio management? Student Response: • e.g. Forces you to relate specific IT investments with the associated business need(s) and value propositions. • • • • • • Allows an organization to create a link between IT investments made, a firm's business strategy, and the desired long and short term returns on the investments to assess the business value of the IT investment. Offers a framework to balance the risk and rewards of IT investments in business terms. Allows managers to make more informed decisions to assess current investments and plan for future investment in IT resources. Creates a common language or methodology for the organization to administer the direction of the firm in order to improve performance. Allows for comparison between your organization against benchmar ...
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Tags: IT investments made IM IT portfolio management IT savvy IT skills benchmarks and IT asset