TABLE OF CONTENTS Improvements in effectiveness (on the supply side of the value compass), by deploying best practices, will improve the quality of products and services supplied (on the demand side). Improvements in effectiveness (on the supply side), by deploying best value practices, will improve the value-added by products and services (on the demand side). Therefore my goal in this chapter is to optimize the value that IT adds to the business by focusing on deploying key best value practices in support of the six value-adding CSFs set out above. The way in which these are achieved is essentially about creating value portals through which solutions must pass if they are to continue to be developed or run.
Note that just as the cost of rectifying defects rises dramatically (potentially exponentially) as you pass through the systems development life-cycle, so I believe the value of adopting best value practices is at its highest at an early point in the life-cycle, because the earlier we focus on high value-adding work and the earlier we choke non-viable work, the better. Therefore let s first look at the issue of strategic alignment , at the start of the life-cycle.
Over the years I have interviewed numerous senior business managers to determine their views of their IT functions. The single most common quote is words to the effect of, They have their agenda and we have ours. The typical perception of senior managers is that the IT function does not truly...
