Business Intelligence Applied: Implementing an Effective Information and Communications Technology Infrastructure

ICT Value Management

Before discussing ways to assess a specific ICT value proposition, it is important to determine if your organization has a culture that views ICT as a value-producing resource. In order to maximize the benefit of ICT, your organization must believe that ICT resources are not only used to support a business's internal processes but should also be dedicated to projects that create value (e.g., that increase market share, enhance customer relationships, and create the perception of value for customers).

Gone are the days when the information technology (IT) department can ask, “What is my budget this year?” Rather, the question must be “How can we use ICT to support the organization's value proposition(s), and how much is the organization willing to spend on ICT to do so?” Things have changed; we no longer build ICT using a “field of dreams” approach—if we built it, they will use it.² Rather, we must use a decided approach to expending an organization's scarce resources on ICT projects. The projects selected for funding must support the organization's value proposition.³

Challenges to Value Management

The first step is to ascertain whether your organization is ready to adopt a value management approach to allocating resources for ICT projects. Organizations often face challenges when considering ICT projects as value-creating entities. The following are several of the more common challenges:

• Problems with delivering technical capabilities. Often an enterprise's ...