IT Metrics - How to manage IT while adding value to the business

Transformation has been an undeniable reality for IT since the beginning of the times. Whether it has been called process reengineering, business adaptability, technology agility, cost saving programs or more recently IT consumerization-commoditization, the fact is that we have never been laid back managing the IT agenda. Transformation is linking several variables together to come up with the most likely and add-value scenario for the business. These scenarios are in the context of reducing costs, increase productive, regain business momentum; meaning all of them are looking to a better business positioning for which IT will have to respond in a prompt and efficient manner.   I often went reading IT news around the world but also having interesting discussions with some colleagues about this non-stop subject of business transformation and the required IT support. As the debate went on, I became overwhelmed with the feeling of loneliness as regards my ow...

The other day I was having an intense debate with a friend of mine regarding the real value of an IT organization. He argued that IT is not longer the true add value organization it used to be in the 90’s or at the beginning of the 21st century. This mainly due to the fact that some of its heritage competences and skills has been moved progressively to other business areas (process modeling are now managed within each of the functional areas or then lead by a separate Lean – Sigma6 organizations, data modeling and data architecture are also cover by specialists within the business functions, the Cloud concept and the related storage market has made possible to move the infrastructure landscape out of the operational control of company IT functions by outsourcing this services, etc. Complementing these ideas, today I read an interesting article at InformationWeek produced by the Forrester Research group predicting that most of the IT functions will gradually dis...