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 Situation
Solution
Benefits
SituationOrganizations, challenged by spiraling IT costs due to project overruns, face a number of perplexing questions, such as: | • | How can I determine which projects to fund and which to adjust or eliminate? | | • | How do I compare one project against another in terms of strategic intent and outcome? | | • | Which projects will result in the most benefit while having the least amount of risk? | | • | How can these decisions be made using the most up-to-date data without paralyzing departments in report generation? |
SolutionAn IT governance solution based on the Microsoft Office System can help organizations align IT spending with business strategy; automate activities such as project management, resource management, and collaboration; and accelerate business success. A solution could include the following components: | • | Dashboards: Using digital dashboards within Microsoft Office SharePoint Portal Server 2003, executives are able to view up-to-the-minute information on all key performance indicators (KPI) used in IT governance to define and manage IT value, such as: | — | Costs | | — | Customer satisfaction | | — | Project management/innovation | | — | Total work effort of IT |
The CIO and CEO are able to monitor for indications of serious problems before it is too late to affect a project. Business unit managers and managers in the Project Management Office have insight into the same data, enabling them to investigate the causes of poor performance, to fine tune their projects, or to determine a change in focus. | | • | Scorecards: Using Microsoft Office Business Scorecard Manager 2005, a business performance management scorecard application, executives can evaluate a set of scorecards that provides a broad view of business opportunities. The scorecards enable deep analysis that helps executives and managers to effectively shape solutions and quickly complete their objectives. | | • | Value framework: Using Microsoft Office InfoPath 2003, executives can create a value framework to measure benefits, risks, and costs of all IT assets. This enables the organization to understand when a project is trending lower in benefits and higher in risks. | | • | Portfolio management: The Microsoft Office Enterprise Project Management (EPM) Solution provides management with visibility, insight, and control of project-based work to optimize business performance. |
BenefitsA solution based on the Microsoft Office System enables organizations to effectively and efficiently ensure that projects across the enterprise are supporting business strategies. Organizations can: | • | Align IT spending with business strategy. | | • | Automate activities such as project management, resource management, and collaboration. | | • | Accelerate business success. |
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