IT leaders of SMEs must learn to manage the IT budget transparently in order to effectively support the growth of their business. Understanding who drives which IT costs within the enterprise helps manage the users' expectations. This cost transparency will also show that the business units actually drive and incur the costs rather than the IT department.

Evolve the Organizational Transparency

There are three IT maturity phases that all enterprises must go through. Progressing through these phases ensures that IT can produce optimal value for the rest of the enterprise:

• The hidden phase. This is where enterprises begin when the IT department is originally formed. All IT costs are hidden from the rest of the enterprise and there is no accountability to the business units. Each of the unit's requests is carried out without thought of the consequences because work needs...