investing intelligently in the it function

Investing Intelligently In The IT Function

Alan McSweeney

July 17, 2013 2

• 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

Activities of IT Function

July 17, 2013 3

• Four sets of activities

1. Doing – Run The Business

2. Managing The Doing –Run The Business

3. Doing – Change the Business

4. Managing The Doing –Change The Business

• The “Magic Quadrant” so beloved of consulting organisations

Change The Business

Run the Business

Doing

Managing The Doing

Generic Structure and Activities of IT Function

July 17, 2013 4

• 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

Generic Structure and Activities of IT Function

July 17, 2013 5

Doing – Run The Business

Doing – Change the Business

Managing The Change – Run The Business Managing The

Doing – Run The Business

Actual Average Relative Balance of Resources Across Activity Areas

Doing – Change the Business

Managing The Change – Run The

Business

July 17, 2013 6

IT’s All Too Common Version of Investment Beer Goggles

• 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

July 17, 2013 7

Changes

Change The Business

Run the Business

Doing

Managing The Doing

Having An Efficient And Effective Run

The Business Function …

… Means The Changes Introduced By Change The Business Activities Can Be Absorbed

More Easily and Quickly

July 17, 2013 8

Effective Run The Business Function Is An Enabler Of Change

Change The Business

Run the Business

Doing

Managing The Doing

Change The Business

Function Pushes New Systems And Processes

To The Run The Business

Function Where They Must Be

Supportable And Operable

Effective Run The Business Function Is An Enabler Of Change

July 17, 2013 10

Change The Business

Run the Business

Doing

Managing The Doing

Relative Proportions of Resources And Expenditure Across Activity Areas

July 17, 2013 11

Σ{ } >> { }Doing – Run The

Business

+

Managing The Doing –

Run The Business

Doing – Change The

Business

+

Managing The Change –

Run The Business

The IT Investment Equation

July 17, 2013 12

Range Of IT Investment Profiles

July 17, 2013 13

• 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 significant under-

investment in IT changes

Profile of organisation with high levels of change and IT

investment in projects

Balance of Resource Allocation Across Activity Areas

July 17, 2013 14

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

and managing change …

Unbalanced Focus on Change-Related IT Activities

July 17, 2013 15

… While most of the resources and

expenditure occurs in Run The Business

activities


July 17, 2013 16

• IT function tends to have an unbalanced focus on areas of change and new projects, assigning them a relatively higher priority than justified


July 17, 2013 17

• 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

IT Capabilities and Areas of Competence

July 17, 2013 18

1. IT Leadership and Governance

2. Strategic and Business Planning

3. Demand and Supply Management, Capacity Forecasting and Planning

4. Sourcing and Supplier Management, Acquisition, Procurement

5. Innovation

6. Accounting, Funding, Financing, Budgeting and Planning

7. Programme Management, Portfolio Management, Project Management

8. Relationship Management and Business Engagement

9. Organisation Design and Planning

10. Enterprise Architecture

11. Infrastructure, Networks and Communication

12. Business and Process Analysis

13. Solution Architecture and Design

14. Benefits Assessment and Realisation

15. Service Provisioning, Service Delivery and Service Management

16. Testing

17. Security, Continuity and Disaster Recovery

18. Solution Development and Delivery

19. People Asset Management

20. Knowledge Asset Management

21. User Experience Design

22. Change and Change Management


What the IT function needs to be good at:

• 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

July 17, 2013 19


July 17, 2013 20

IT Is Not About …

Be Careful About Jumping on Bandwagons

The Ride Can Be Uncomfortable And Unpleasant

July 17, 2013 21

IT Is About …

July 17, 2013 22

July 17, 2013 23

Capability D/RTB MTD/CTB MTD/RTB D/CTBIT 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 ��

IT Capabilities by Activity Area

July 17, 2013 24

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

Colour Coding of Key Capabilities

Sample representation of capabilities

• Represents the required competencies for activity areas

July 17, 2013 25

IT Competence Skills Radar

July 17, 2013 26

Doing

–Run The Business

Managi

ng The D

oing

–Run T

he Busi

ness

Managing The Doing

–Change The Business

Doing

–Change

The B

usiness

July 17, 2013 27





Innovation











Testing







Doing – Run The Business - Key Competencies

July 17, 2013 28

• Doing – Run The

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

Doing –

Run The

Business

Doing – Run The Business - Key Competencies

July 17, 2013 29





Innovation











Testing







Managing The Doing – Run The Business - Key Competencies

July 17, 2013 30

• Managing The Doing –

Run The Business

activity area involves managing the delivery of business as usual services, operations

Managing

The Doing

– Run The

Business

Managing The Doing – Run The Business - Key Competencies

July 17, 2013 31





Innovation











Testing







Doing – Change The Business - Key Competencies

July 17, 2013 32

• Doing – Change The

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

Doing – Change

The Business

Doing – Change The Business - Key Competencies

July 17, 2013 33





Innovation











Testing







Managing The Doing – Change The Business - Key Competencies

July 17, 2013 34

• Managing The Doing

– Change The

Business activity area involves managing the implementation of new projects and the changes they introduce into the organisation

Managing The

Doing – Change

The Business

Managing The Doing – Change The Business - Key Competencies

July 17, 2013 35

• Where are your organisation’s 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

Measuring Your Skills in Key Competency Areas

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

July 17, 2013 36

IT Competence Skills Radar

July 17, 2013 37

Doing

–Run The Business

Managi

ng The D

oing

–Run T

he Busi

ness

Managing The Doing

–Change The Business

Doing

–Change

The B

usiness

July 17, 2013 38

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

Current Activity Profile

Desired Or Necessary Activity Profile

Evaluate Core Competency Levels

Prioritised Improvement Competency Areas

Define Improvement Programme

Deliver Improvement Programme

Systematic Approach To Increasing Skills In Competencies

July 17, 2013 39

July 17, 2013 40

The wheel is not getting any rounder

July 17, 2013 41

It does not need to be reinvented

So use existing well-proven 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 well-

implemented

r

d

πd

πr2

180 0

90 0

270 0

Capability Sample Existing Frameworks and Methodologies

IT Leadership and Governance COBIT, OEGC


Demand and Supply Management, Capacity Forecasting and Planning COBIT, ITIL

Sourcing and Supplier Management, Acquisition, Procurement ISPL, eSCM, CMMI-ACQ

Innovation

Accounting, Funding, Financing, Budgeting and Planning Val IT

Programme Management, Portfolio Management, Project Management PMBOK, Prince2



Enterprise Architecture TOGAF, DODAF, MODAF, NASCIO EAMM

Infrastructure, Networks and Communications

Business and Process Analysis and Design BABOK

Solution Architecture and Design ITABOK

Benefits Assessment and Realisation VMM, Val IT

Service Provisioning, Service Delivery and Service Management ITIL, ISO 20000

Testing ISTQB, AST

Security, Continuity and Disaster Recovery ISO 27002, ISO22301, ISO 22399, ISO 24762

Solution Development and Delivery CMMI, ISO 9000, ISO/15504

People Asset Management People CMM

Data, Information, Knowledge Asset Management DMBOK

User Experience Design ISO 9241, CIF, ISO/AWI 23973

Change and Change Management ITIL

Sample Frameworks And Methodologies For Competencies

July 17, 2013 42

July 17, 2013 43

There Is No Silver Bullet At Getting Better

Just a bunch of regular bullets to fire at the

problem

July 17, 2013 44

Alan McSweeney

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

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