Upload
it-toolkitsorg
View
60
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
2/29/2016 Bridging the business–IT divide needs a common language for understanding IT costs - IT Management Templates
http://it-toolkits.org/blog/?p=444 1/3
Bridging the business–IT divide needs a common
language for understanding IT costs - IT Management
Templates
At a recent event held in Century City, Cape Town, SME-focused IT managed services
specialist Space Age Technologies revealed an all-new stratagem for modern small and
medium-sized businesses to get the most value from their IT investments – called Relevant
IT.
With the Relevant IT framework being so revolutionary, the visionary drivers behind the concept
decided to narrow down the target market for this initial foray, and invited decision-makers from the
region’s most prominent auditing firms to attend the presentation.
Predominantly consisting of individuals focused on financials, but also responsible for technology
investment decisions, the target audience was ideally suited to the subject for the launch of the
company’s Relevant IT-aligned Business Technology Cost Modelling service.
Comprehensive approach
Space Age directors heavily involved in the development of Relevant IT, including MD and solution-
seeking engineer Mark Geschke as well as ex-auditor and now FD Ruhan Neethling, described the
years of work spent
developing this comprehensive framework, and specifically, the technology cost modelling – a service
2/29/2016 Bridging the business–IT divide needs a common language for understanding IT costs - IT Management Templates
http://it-toolkits.org/blog/?p=444 2/3
based on the framework. Titled: Unpacking the Black Box of IT Costs, the service models the IT
environment, allocates all IT-related costs to a newly created standard set of accounts and presents
the information to the finance head using a business intelligence dashboard. What was previously a
confusing collection of technology jargon-filled costs is turned into a language which both business
and IT people can use for IT investment and cost reduction discussions.
Most importantly, due to the standard categorisation and allocations introduced, this service will allow
companies to compare their IT expenses with other companies in the same industry.
The pair explained the trouble finance departments face precisely categorising various technology
outlays, and conversely, on the difficulty technology leaders have proving the value of any
investments thanks to the communications chasm that exists between the two spheres. This
disconnect has, through the years, come to be known as the business-IT divide, and this service is an
important stone paving the path to finally bridging this gap in the SME space.
On Relevant IT, Mark Geschke: “We’re on the ground in Western Cape IT every day – we’ve heard
the chatter in the industry about how IT investments don’t deliver on their promises. And it isn’t getting
better, in fact, it’s getting worse. The fact is that many of the decisions taken by IT leaders have
backfired in terms of delivering tangible business value. This has led to the perception that
technology isn’t capable of delivering real value, and in turn has led business people to disregard IT
as anything more than merely a provider of a stable working environment. This situation is a no-win
situation for all parties, and the root cause of it is the business-IT divide.
“This break has to be mended. And with Relevant IT, we’re tackling the problem head on specifically
in our target market segment.”
Understanding the journey
Several of the leading auditing firms in the Western Cape were represented by executive-level
individuals. Nearly all of them comprehend the fact that IT should deliver more towards business
value. However, to date, no clear solution has presented itself, especially in the small and medium
enterprise space.
Colyn Donaggi of Henri Grove & Partners adds: “After watching this (the presentation), there’s no
doubt in my mind that our technology costs need to be better categorised to effectively justify results
to the business. At the end of the day, it’s all about controlling the cost, but the constraint I have is
that as an auditor I can look at what might be a small IT problem and it can seem a lot bigger than it
really is. So it’s great that this approach breaks down all the remedial action into manageable bites,
but then ties this all together in the framework as a whole, already beginning the journey to eliminating
that draining business-IT divide.”
After the revelations of the Relevant IT framework, attendee Monica Bandenhorst, who functions as
both a financial manager and IT manager at Moore Stephens VDA, gave her own assessment: “In the
dual role I fulfil, I certainly see the problems Relevant IT will address every single day. I’m always
mediating between the clerks and the technical team – neither ever seems to even want to
2/29/2016 Bridging the business–IT divide needs a common language for understanding IT costs - IT Management Templates
http://it-toolkits.org/blog/?p=444 3/3
understand the other’s needs. I can really see the effort that has gone into this solution, and it’s also
great to have Ruhan around to be able to frame things in a finance perspective that very quickly
drives the point home!”
In summation
Despite obvious problems, so many IT organisations today continue to be less interested in solving
customer problems than they are in selling solutions. Space Age Technologies has spent
considerable time and resources on the Relevant IT framework specifically because it believes the
interaction between business and technology has to change to yield future success. Technology must
become as integral a part of the business as finance is today, and it believes this changing mindset
will require a new breed of service provider.
Back in 2001, Space Age pioneered managed services into the SME market. The company intends to
again be a leader among this emerging breed. In the end, it foresees the Relevant IT framework,
along with services such as Business Technology Cost Modelling, being adopted by business across
the globe as the new standard model for building technology systems which are fully integrated with
business strategy – yielding new levels of value for the money invested.