Maximize Business Value From IT Through Benefits Realization

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IT and the business are often misaligned because business value is not well defined or communicated.
Decisions are made without a shared perspective of value. This results in cost misallocation and unexploited opportunities to improve efficiency and drive innovation.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

IT exists to provide business value and is part of the business value chain. Most IT organizations lack a way to define value, which complicates the process of making value-based strategic business decisions.
IT must link its spend to business value to justify its investments. IT doesn’t have an established process to govern benefits realization and struggles to demonstrate how it provides value from its investments.
Pursue value, not technology. The inability to articulate value leads to IT being perceived as a cost center.

Impact and Result

Ensure there is a common understanding within the organization of what is valuable to drive growth and consistent strategic decision making.
Equip IT to evaluate, direct, and monitor investments to support the achievement of organizational values and business benefits.
Align IT spend with business value through an enhanced governance structure to achieve cost optimization. Ensure IT visibly contributes to the creation and maintenance of value.

Maximize Business Value From IT Through Benefits Realization Research & Tools

Start here – read the Executive Brief

Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should establish a benefits realization process, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.

Maximize Business Value from IT Through Benefits Realization – Executive Brief

1. Understand business value

Ensure that all key strategic stakeholders hold a current understanding of what is valuable to the organization and a sense of what will be valuable based on future needs.

2. Incorporate benefits realization into governance

Establish the process to evaluate spend on IT initiatives based on expected benefits, and implement the methods to monitor how well the initiatives achieve these benefits.

3. Ensure an accurate reference of value

Re-evaluate, on a consistent basis, the accuracy of the value drivers stated in the value statement with respect to the organization’s current internal and external environments.

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Worst parts: Ipsen did not get the right level of support after running the initial diagnostic. The method of diagnostic delivery yielded little v... Read More

Business Value

Embed benefits realization into your governance process to prioritize IT spend and confirm the value of IT.

This course makes up part of the Financial Management Certificate.

Now Playing:
Academy: Business Value | Executive Brief

An active membership is required to access Info-Tech Academy

Course Modules: 4
Estimated Completion Time: 2-2.5 hours

Featured Analysts:
Valence Howden, Research Director, CIO and Enterprise Architecture
James Alexander, SVP of Research and Advisory, CIO Practice

Workshop: Maximize Business Value From IT Through Benefits Realization

Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.

Module 1: Understand Business Value

The Purpose

Establish the business value statement.
Understand the importance of implementing a benefits realization process.

Key Benefits Achieved

Unified stakeholder perspectives of business value drivers
Establish supporters of the initiative

Activities

Outputs

1.1

Understand what governance is and how a benefits realization process in governance will benefit the company.

Stakeholder buy-in on benefits realization process

1.2

Discuss the mission and vision of the company, and why it is important to establish the target state prior to defining value.

Understanding of interrelations of mission, vision, and business value drivers

1.3

Brainstorm and narrow down organization value drivers.

Final three prioritized value drivers
Completed business value statement

Module 2: Incorporate Benefits Realization Into Governance

The Purpose

Establish the intake, assessment and prioritization, and output and monitoring processes that are involved with implementing benefits realization.
Assign cut-over dates and accountabilities.
Establish monitoring and tracking processes.

Key Benefits Achieved

A thorough implementation plan that can be incorporated into existing governance documents
Stakeholder understanding of implemented process, process ownership

Activities

Outputs

2.1

Devise the benefits realization process.

Benefits realization process incorporated into governance documentation

2.2

Establish launch dates, accountabilities, and exception handling on processes.

Actionable plan to implement benefits realization process

2.3

Devise compliance monitoring and exception tracking methods on the benefits realization process.

Reporting processes to ensure the successful delivery of the improved governance process

Module 3: Ensure an Accurate Reference of Value

The Purpose

Implement a process to ensure that business value drivers remain current to the organization.

Key Benefits Achieved

Align IT with the business and business to its environment

Activities

Outputs

3.1

Determine regular review cycle to reassess business value drivers.

Agenda and tools to assess the business context to verify the accuracy of value

3.2

Determine the trigger events that may cause off-cycle revisits to value.

List of possible trigger events specific to your organization

3.3

Devise compliance monitoring on value definition.

Reporting processes to ensure the continuous adherence to the business value definition

About Info-Tech

Info-Tech Research Group is the world’s fastest-growing information technology research and advisory company, proudly serving over 30,000 IT professionals.

We produce unbiased and highly relevant research to help CIOs and IT leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. We partner closely with IT teams to provide everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.

Table of Contents

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Guided Implementation 1: Understand business value

Call 1: Identify key stakeholders and business value statement.
Call 2: Devise a business value statement.
Call 3: Establish stakeholder understanding of business value drivers and benefits realization.

Guided Implementation 2: Incorporate benefits realization into governance

Call 1: Adjust your governing process documentation.
Call 2: Present the changes to stakeholder.
Call 3: Implement changes to the governing process.

Guided Implementation 3: Ensure an accurate reference of value

Call 1: Continuously revisit the value definition.

Author

Julie Oh

Contributors

Deborah Eyzaguirre, IT Business Relationship Manager, UNT System
Herbert Kraft, MIS Manager, Prairie Knights Casino
Roslyn Kamen, CFO, Miles Nadel JCC
Nicole Haggerty, Associate Professor of Information Systems, Ivey Business School
Chris Austin, CTO, Ivey Business School
Adriana Callerio, IT Director Performance Management, Molina Healthcare Inc.
Joe Evers, Consulting Principal, JcEvers Consulting Corp
Huw Morgan, IT Research Executive
Joy Thiele, Special Projects Manager, Dunns Creek Baptist Church
Rick Daoust, CIO, Cambrian College