Investing Intelligently In The IT Function

Alan McSweeney

Activities of IT Function

Doing Run The Business

Business as usual activities (BAU) related to administering and operating production IT systems and providing service to users

Managing The Doing Run The Business

Managing the BAU function and its service delivery

Doing Change the Business

Implementing projects and delivering new services and systems

Managing The Doing Change The Business

Managing the projects and associated changes

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Generic Structure and Activities of IT Function

Four sets of activities

1. 2. 3. 4. Doing Run The Business Managing The Doing Run The Business Doing Change the Business Managing The Doing Change The Business

Change The Business

Run the Business

Doing

The Magic Quadrant so beloved of consulting organisations

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Managing The Doing

Generic Structure and Activities of IT Function

Not all activities are of equal weight it is not the beloved Magic Quadrant Balance between activities and required resources and expenditure depends on many factor:
Maturity of IT function and organisation Level of change Historical legacy of under or over investment in IT Growth profile Market changes

However, Run The Business will always dominate IT resources and activities But Change The Business activities get disproportionately large and undeserved attention to the detriment of Run The Business activities
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Actual Average Relative Balance of Resources Across Activity Areas

Doing Change the Business

Doing Run The Business

Managing The Change Run The Business

Managing The Doing Run The Business

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ITs All Too Common Version of Investment Beer Goggles

Doing Change the Business

Managing The Change Run The Business

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Changes IT changes are inevitable in response to factors such as:

Market changes Business changes Technology changes Regulatory changes

But change needs to be balanced and the organisation needs to be capable of absorbing change

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Effective Run The Business Function Is An Enabler Of Change

Change The Business Run the Business Having An Efficient And Effective Run The Business Function

Doing

Managing The Doing

Means The Changes Introduced By Change The Business Activities Can Be Absorbed More Easily and Quickly
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Effective Run The Business Function Is An Enabler Of Change

Change The Business Change The Business Function Pushes Doing New Systems And Processes To The Run The Business Function Where They Must Be Managing The Doing Supportable And Operable Run the Business

Relative Proportions of Resources And Expenditure Across Activity Areas

Change The Business Run the Business

Doing

Managing The Doing

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The IT Investment Equation

{
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Doing Run The Business + Managing The Doing Run The Business

} >> {

Doing Change The Business + Managing The Change Run The Business

}
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Range Of IT Investment Profiles

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Balance of Resource Allocation Across Activity Areas

Relative split of resources across activity areas can range across a spectrum

Standard profile of organisation with balanced level of activities across all areas

Profile of organisation with high levels of change and IT investment in projects

Profile of organisation with significant underinvestment in IT changes

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Unbalanced Focus on Change-Related IT Activities

Much of the focus of the IT function is on the areas of change and managing change

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Unbalanced Focus on Change-Related IT Activities

While most of the resources and expenditure occurs in Run The Business activities

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Unbalanced Focus on Change-Related IT Activities IT function tends to have an unbalanced focus on areas of change and new projects, assigning them a relatively higher priority than justified

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IT Capabilities and Areas of Competence Key areas where the IT function needs to maintain significant levels of competence, skill and experience and practise Not all activity areas require all the key capabilities Use to identify what is important for your IT function based on your current and desired/necessary activity profile Quantify gaps in your skills levels in competence areas Use this to define programme of improvement and increased capability
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IT Capabilities and Areas of Competence What the IT function needs to be good at:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

IT Leadership and Governance Strategic and Business Planning Demand and Supply Management, Capacity Forecasting and Planning Sourcing and Supplier Management, Acquisition, Procurement Innovation Accounting, Funding, Financing, Budgeting and Planning Programme Management, Portfolio Management, Project Management Relationship Management and Business Engagement Organisation Design and Planning Enterprise Architecture

11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22.

Infrastructure, Networks and Communication Business and Process Analysis Solution Architecture and Design Benefits Assessment and Realisation Service Provisioning, Service Delivery and Service Management Testing Security, Continuity and Disaster Recovery Solution Development and Delivery People Asset Management Knowledge Asset Management User Experience Design Change and Change Management
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IT Capabilities and Areas of Competence General sets of skills required of the IT function Transcend specific technical and technology skills and trends
Technology change is a constant

It is about having the overarching skills to handle change, adopt suitable and appropriate new technologies and deliver a service and value to the underlying business

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IT Is Not About

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Be Careful About Jumping on Bandwagons

The Ride Can Be Uncomfortable And Unpleasant

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IT Is About

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IT Capabilities by Activity Area

Capability
IT Leadership and Governance Strategic and Business Planning Demand and Supply Management, Capacity Forecasting and Planning Sourcing and Supplier Management, Acquisition, Procurement Innovation Accounting, Funding, Financing, Budgeting and Planning Programme Management, Portfolio Management, Project Management Relationship Management and Business Engagement Organisation Design and Planning Enterprise Architecture Infrastructure, Networks and Communications Business and Process Analysis and Design Solution Architecture and Design Benefits Assessment and Realisation Service Provisioning, Service Delivery and Service Management Testing Security, Continuity and Disaster Recovery Solution Development and Delivery People Asset Management Data, Information, Knowledge Asset Management User Experience Design Change and Change Management
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D/RTB

MTD/CTB MTD/RTB D/CTB

Colour Coding of Key Capabilities Sample representation of capabilities

IT Leadership and Governance Strategic and Business Planning Demand and Supply Management, Capacity Forecasting and Planning Sourcing and Supplier Management, Acquisition, Procurement Innovation Accounting, Funding, Financing, Budgeting and Planning Programme Management, Portfolio Management, Project Management Relationship Management and Business Engagement Organisation Design and Planning Enterprise Architecture Infrastructure, Networks and Communication Business and Process Analysis and Design Solution Architecture and Design Benefits Assessment and Realisation Service Provisioning, Service Delivery and Service Management Testing Security, Continuity and Disaster Recovery Solution Development and Delivery People Asset Management Data, Information and Knowledge Asset Management User Experience Design Change and Change Management
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IT Competence Skills Radar Represents the required competencies for activity areas

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g in in us Do e B Th n Ru

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M ana Ru gi n ng Th T e he Bu D sin oin es g s

Doing Run The Business - Key Competencies

IT Leadership and Governance Strategic and Business Planning Demand and Supply Management, Capacity Forecasting and Planning Sourcing and Supplier Management, Acquisition, Procurement Innovation Accounting, Funding, Financing, Budgeting and Planning Programme Management, Portfolio Management, Project Management Relationship Management and Business Engagement Organisation Design and Planning Enterprise Architecture Infrastructure, Networks and Communication Business and Process Analysis and Design Solution Architecture and Design Benefits Assessment and Realisation Service Provisioning, Service Delivery and Service Management Testing Security, Continuity and Disaster Recovery Solution Development and Delivery People Asset Management Data, Information and Knowledge Asset Management User Experience Design Change and Change Management
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Doing Run The Business - Key Competencies

Doing Run The Business activity area involves keeping operational systems function and providing service to users

Doing Run The Business

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Managing The Doing Run The Business - Key Competencies

IT Leadership and Governance Strategic and Business Planning Demand and Supply Management, Capacity Forecasting and Planning Sourcing and Supplier Management, Acquisition, Procurement Innovation Accounting, Funding, Financing, Budgeting and Planning Programme Management, Portfolio Management, Project Management Relationship Management and Business Engagement Organisation Design and Planning Enterprise Architecture Infrastructure, Networks and Communication Business and Process Analysis and Design Solution Architecture and Design Benefits Assessment and Realisation Service Provisioning, Service Delivery and Service Management Testing Security, Continuity and Disaster Recovery Solution Development and Delivery People Asset Management Data, Information and Knowledge Asset Management User Experience Design Change and Change Management
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Managing The Doing Run The Business - Key Competencies

Managing The Doing Run The Business

Managing The Doing Run The Business activity area involves managing the delivery of business as usual services, operations
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Doing Change The Business - Key Competencies

IT Leadership and Governance Strategic and Business Planning Demand and Supply Management, Capacity Forecasting and Planning Sourcing and Supplier Management, Acquisition, Procurement Innovation Accounting, Funding, Financing, Budgeting and Planning Programme Management, Portfolio Management, Project Management Relationship Management and Business Engagement Organisation Design and Planning Enterprise Architecture Infrastructure, Networks and Communication Business and Process Analysis and Design Solution Architecture and Design Benefits Assessment and Realisation Service Provisioning, Service Delivery and Service Management Testing Security, Continuity and Disaster Recovery Solution Development and Delivery People Asset Management Data, Information and Knowledge Asset Management User Experience Design Change and Change Management
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Doing Change The Business - Key Competencies

Doing Change The Business activity area involves implementing new projects and the changes they introduce into the organisation

Doing Change The Business

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Managing The Doing Change The Business - Key Competencies

IT Leadership and Governance Strategic and Business Planning Demand and Supply Management, Capacity Forecasting and Planning Sourcing and Supplier Management, Acquisition, Procurement Innovation Accounting, Funding, Financing, Budgeting and Planning Programme Management, Portfolio Management, Project Management Relationship Management and Business Engagement Organisation Design and Planning Enterprise Architecture Infrastructure, Networks and Communication Business and Process Analysis and Design Solution Architecture and Design Benefits Assessment and Realisation Service Provisioning, Service Delivery and Service Management Testing Security, Continuity and Disaster Recovery Solution Development and Delivery People Asset Management Data, Information and Knowledge Asset Management User Experience Design Change and Change Management
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Managing The Doing Change The Business - Key Competencies

Managing The Doing Change The Business

Managing The Doing Change The Business activity area involves managing the implementation of new projects and the changes they introduce into the organisation
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Measuring Your Skills in Key Competency Areas

Where are your organisations skill, experience and practical application of key competencies? How good are you at what is actually important rather than what is perceived to be important? What do you need to get better at? Can you identify what improvements will generate the greatest benefits?
Highly skilled, experienced and consistently well applied

Poorly skilled, experienced and consistently not well applied

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IT Competence Skills Radar Where is your organisation on the IT Competence Skills radar?

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s es

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M ana Ru gi n ng Th T e he Bu D sin oin es g s

Use current levels of competence and importance of competency across all activity areas to identify those areas at which getting better will yield the greatest return Targeted investment of resources Get good at what matters Get the biggest bang for your buck

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Systematic Approach To Increasing Skills In Competencies

Current Activity Profile

Desired Or Necessary Activity Profile

Evaluate Core Competency Levels

Prioritised Improvement Competency Areas

Define Improvement Programme

Deliver Improvement Programme

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The wheel is not getting any rounder

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It does not need to be reinvented So use existing wellproven frameworks and methodologies to systematically improve skills, experience and practise in key competency areas The world does not need new frameworks and methodologies it needs existing ones wellimplemented
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90 0 180 0 270 0

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Sample Frameworks And Methodologies For Competencies

Capability
IT Leadership and Governance Strategic and Business Planning Demand and Supply Management, Capacity Forecasting and Planning Sourcing and Supplier Management, Acquisition, Procurement Innovation Accounting, Funding, Financing, Budgeting and Planning Programme Management, Portfolio Management, Project Management Relationship Management and Business Engagement Organisation Design and Planning Enterprise Architecture Infrastructure, Networks and Communications Business and Process Analysis and Design Solution Architecture and Design Benefits Assessment and Realisation Service Provisioning, Service Delivery and Service Management Testing Security, Continuity and Disaster Recovery Solution Development and Delivery People Asset Management Data, Information, Knowledge Asset Management User Experience Design Change and Change Management
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Sample Existing Frameworks and Methodologies

COBIT, OEGC COBIT, ITIL ISPL, eSCM, CMMI-ACQ Val IT PMBOK, Prince2

TOGAF, DODAF, MODAF, NASCIO EAMM BABOK ITABOK VMM, Val IT ITIL, ISO 20000 ISTQB, AST ISO 27002, ISO22301, ISO 22399, ISO 24762 CMMI, ISO 9000, ISO/15504 People CMM DMBOK ISO 9241, CIF, ISO/AWI 23973 ITIL
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There Is No Silver Bullet At Getting Better

Just a bunch of regular bullets to fire at the problem

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More Information

Alan McSweeney http://ie.linkedin.com/in/alanmcsweeney

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