{"id":13941,"date":"2015-10-01T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T16:00:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2024-01-22T22:52:20","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T06:52:20","slug":"determining-data-platform-value-a-combination-of-strategy-finance-and-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/sql-server\/blog\/2015\/10\/01\/determining-data-platform-value-a-combination-of-strategy-finance-and-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"Determining Data Platform Value: A Combination of Strategy, Finance, and Technology"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to a recent Ernst and Young study, CFO-CIO: a growing collaboration<\/a>, in the past three years, 71 percent of CFOs have increased their involvement in IT purchasing decisions. The report points out that this is true even though many CFOs admit they have \u201cinsufficient understanding of IT issues\u201d and are more focused on \u201cmanaging costs and profitability\u201d than on assuring that IT adds strategic value to the organization. However, the study states that, \u201cTo succeed, organizations must make bold technology investment decisions that are driven by corporate strategy.\u201d This means finance and IT must work with business leadership to identify solutions that meet strategic, technical, and financial objectives that advance the business.<\/p>\n

From this starting point, the CIO can help business leadership and the CFO to identify the technology capabilities necessary to drive the business strategy. For example, the business strategy might require a data platform that includes business intelligence (BI) features: BI might help the organization increase sales by understanding factors such as customer purchasing patterns. If a potential data platform includes BI functionality at no extra charge, it can be a better strategic acquisition and more cost effective than a platform that requires additional purchases to gain BI capabilities. Or perhaps the strategic business need is for faster point-of-sales (POS) responsiveness to improve the customer experience at the cash register: Faster credit card approval, for example, means customers don\u2019t have to endure long waits at checkout. In this case, if a data platform includes functionality such as in-memory processing to speed responsiveness, that platform will have more strategic value and better ROI than a platform that charges for the features necessary to meet strategic goals.<\/p>\n

Another strategic consideration is the platform vendor\u2019s partner ecosystem. It\u2019s important to know that a wide range of trusted third-party experts, applications and services are available to help extend the value of the data platform. As the world\u2019s most widely used data platform, Microsoft has a worldwide network of more than 70,000 SQL Server partners, and 9,500 Microsoft-certified Gold and Silver partners in business intelligence and OLTP, as well has partners that provide applications for nearly every industry and expert services. Click here<\/a> to learn more about Microsoft\u2019s partners.<\/p>\n

A Methodology to Determine Value<\/strong><\/p>\n

Once the strategy and necessary technical functionality have been identified, a potential platform solution such as SQL Server can be investigated. The CIO can ensure that the recommended solution is financially sound. A Forrester Consulting report, \u201cThe Total Economic Impact Of Microsoft SQL Server<\/a>: Cost Savings And Business Benefits Enabled By Microsoft SQL Server 2014 And SQL Server 2012 For Mission-Critical Transaction Processing Applications,\u201d gives CFOs a methodology for determining the Total Economic Impact (TEI).<\/p>\n

As a starting point, the Forrester TEI study serves as a framework \u201cto identify the cost, benefit, flexibility, and risk factors that affect the investment decision.\u201d The study is based on a survey of SQL Server customers to determine how SQL Server performs in mission-critical scenarios. The survey covers \u201ckey assessment requirements,\u201d such as:<\/p>\n