9331 Bluebonnet BoulevardBaton Rouge, LA 70810
225-769-2676www.consultssa.com
Louisiana Council of Information Services Directors
Maximizing Internal IT Effectiveness
Presentation Overview
• Introduction
• Identifying the four keys
• Breaking down the four keys
• Questions and answers
Presenter’s Background
• Over 24 years of IT-related experience• Industry experience includes finance,
healthcare, IT outsourcing, and state government
• Consulting for just over three years– Organizational restructure– Business process redesign– Project management/facilitation– Interim IT management
Identifying the Four Keys
1. IT GovernancePractices
3. Customer Service and
Marketing
4. Performance Management
2. OrganizationalStructure
Effective IT Requires:
• Proper interconnectivity
• Proper balance of roles
• Proper alignment of focus
Defining the Four Keys
1. Governance: How your business organization manages utilization of IT resources (e.g. people, funding, and assets)
2. IT Organization Structure: How well your application support aligns with your agency operations structure
3. Customer Service and Marketing: Getting your IT staff to operate like an external party that has to earn their business and promoting your services
4. Performance Management: Using employee performance reviews to reinforce a customer service philosophy
Key 1:Effective IT Governance
• IT governance is specifying the decision rights and accountability framework to encourage desirable behaviors in the use of IT
• Effective IT governance requires a significant amount of management time and attention
• Well-designed IT governance arrangements distribute IT decision making to those responsible for outcomes
Source: IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage I/T Decision Rights for Superior Results By: Peter Weill and Jeanne W. Ross
Key 1:Effective IT Governance cont…
• The best predicator of IT governance performance is the percentage of managers in leadership roles who can accurately describe IT governance
• Research shows that organizations implementing effective IT governance to support their business strategies realize superior results
Source: IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage I/T Decision Rights for Superior Results By: Peter Weill and Jeanne W. Ross
IT Governance Must Address …
• What decisions to make
• Who should make the decisions
• How to make and monitor the decisions
Source: IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage I/T Decision Rights for Superior Results By: Peter Weill and Jeanne W. Ross
Governance Structure Models
• Model 1: For small organizations where a single tiered central steering committee, chaired by highest level executive, can effectively govern IT deployment for entire organization
• Model 2: For medium size organizations that have two to four operational divisions that are highly dependent on IT resources
• Model 3: For large organizations the have five or more operational divisions highly dependent on IT resources
IT Governance Structure:Model 2
AdministrativeSteering
Committee
Division A Steering
Committee
Division BSteering
Committee
eServicesInter/Intranet
• Chaired by Secretary or appointed official• Meets bi-monthly or quarterly• Defines IT governance structure • Sets decision parameters for committees• Approval board for IT business policies• Includes steering committee chairs• Includes senior IT executive
• IT Steering Committees (ITSC)• Chaired by appointed official• Meets bi-weekly or monthly• Plan/prioritize division projects• Management level participants
Governance Committee
(ITGC)
IT Governance Structure:Model 3
Executive Committee
(ITEC)
• Chaired by high appointed official• Meets monthly initially • Includes Steering Committee chairs• Approval board for IT Business policies• Oversees multi-division IT initiatives
• IT Steering Committees (ITSC)• Chaired by ITGC member• Meets monthly• Plan/prioritize area projects• Management level participants
Governance Committee
(ITGC)
• Chaired by Secretary or appointed official• Includes appointed officials • Meets quarterly• Approves decision parameters for ITGC• Oversees/approves governance structure• Includes ITGC chair and IT Director
AdministrativeSteering
Committee
Division ASteering
Committee
Division BSteering
Committee
eServicesInter/Intranet
Important Governance Factors
• Ideally, your highest level governance committee should be chaired by the agency Secretary
• Active involvement by the highest level of organization management
• Committees should be chaired by business executives
Important GovernanceFactors cont…
• Committees should be organized around key business operations or divisions rather than IT operations
• Top IT executive should sit on the organization’s highest level executive business committee
• Formalized business based methodology for prioritizing IT projects
IT Governance Practices Example: Project Priority Matrix
Priority
Business DriversWT A B C D Score
Return on Investment
6.0
> 30 %
( )
6.0
> 20 %
( )
4.5
> 15 %
( )
3.0
> 10 %
( )
1.0
Efficiency Gains
- One-Time Savings
- Annual Savings
4.0
6.0
> $500K
( )
( )
6.0
> $250K
( )
( )
4.0
> $100K
( )
( )
2.0
< $100K
( )
( )
0.0
Marketing Impact - Improves Customer
Service- Provides New Service
3.0
4.0
High
( )
( )
5.0
Medium
( )
( )
4.0
Low
( )
( )
2.0
Indirect
( )
( )
1.0
Scope of Impact- Multi-Department - Single Department
4.0
2.0
> or = 6
( )
( )
6.0
> or = 4
( )
( )
4.0
> or = 2
( )
( )
2.0
= 1
( )
( )
1.0
Business Risk:- Key IT Resources - Implementation
Timeline
-2.0
-1.5
Hi/Long
( )
( )
5.0
Lo/Long
( )
( )
4.0
Hi/Short
( )
( )
3.0
Lo/Short
( )
( )
1.0
Key 2:Business-Driven IT Structure
• Application team structure needs to effectively align with major operational divisions and governance structure
• “Big Picture” thinking is prevalent amongst the IT management team
• Single point of accountability for these IT areas:
– Overall agency IT management
– Business applications management
– Infrastructure management and support
– eServices development and support
Aligning Applications with Business Operations
AppointedSecretary
Operations Division A
Operations Division B
Administrative Division
FinancePurchasingHuman ResourcesPayrollAuditLegal
Customer ServicesBillingCollectionsRemote Offices
Mail ProcessingImagingDocument Management
IT Directoror CIO
Division BApplications
Division A Applications
Administrative Applications
Application Director/Manager
Infrastructure Manager
CustomerService Manager
eServicesApplications
FinancePurchasingHuman ResourcesPayrollAuditLegal
Customer ServicesBillingCollectionsRemote Offices
Mail ProcessingImagingDocument Management
Business-Driven IT Model
I/T Foundation: Balancing Business Needs and Technology Infrastructure
Customer Demands
Business Services
ApplicationRequirements
TechnicalInfrastructure
Customer VendorCustomer VendorCustomer Vendor
Key 3:Customer Service and Marketing
• Developing an “Internal Consultant” mindset – Every encounter with a customer is a perception opportunity
(favorable or unfavorable)
– Of the individual and the IT division
• Getting IT personnel to identify with the business operations rather than the IT business
• Develop IT business practices that make it easier on the customers to do business with IT
• Job shadowing: spending time walking in your customer’s shoes in their element
Key 3:Customer Service
and Marketing cont… • When IT organizations do their job best, customers
notice you least; IT becomes transparent
• When things are going well you sometimes have to promote your organization, it’s called marketing
• You have to be pro-active in telling your customers about your organization and your efforts; consider an IT Road Show
• The link: the better your customer services are the more credibility your marketing efforts will have
Key 4:Performance Management
• Developing a performance management system that encourages the desired behaviors related to customer service
• Highly-disciplined management team that provides consistent and equitable evaluation of personnel – Maintain a personnel folder on each direct report and their direct
reports– Top IT executive serves a single point of preview and feedback
on every personnel review
• Assemble a management team that understands their role is to put their staff in the best possible position to be successful
Include Customer Servicein Employee Reviews
• Solicit customer feedback and include in each employee’s performance review
• Require IT staff to spend a half to a full day each quarter job shadowing a customer
• Require each employee to provide a half page report on what they learned and share with the entire IT staff
Assessing WhereYou are Today
• Ask your staff: – What business are you in?
• Ask your managers: – Are our processes designed to make life easier for our IT staff
or for our customer?– Have you seen demonstrations of applications you do not have
to support?
• Ask your employees: – How much time do you spend with your customer learning their
business operations?
• Ask your customers: – What is the most valuable service IT provides?
Suggested Reading
• IT Governance: How Top Performers Manage IT Decision Rights for Superior Results, by Peter Weill and Jeanne W. Ross
• Flawless Consulting: A Guide to Getting Your Expertise Used, by Peter Block
• How to Market The I/S Department Internally, by L. Paul Ouelette
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