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

Balanced Scorecard

ICT valuation tools can be used in a unified manner to monitor ICT projects and to determine ICT payoff in a method called the balanced scorecard (BSC).⁷ The use of the BSC is discussed in this section.

Overview of the BSC Processes

The BSC is a way for managers to assess and monitor the alignment between strategy and investment. It is useful to strategists in general and to business analysts specifically. The BSC is driven by the vision and strategy of the organization and provides a balance between financial and nonfinancial indicators. The BSC is based on the belief that managers do not need to rely on short-term financial measures as the sole indicators of the company's performance. Creation of the BSC occurs within four processes:

1. Vision translation. Managers must build consensus around their organization's vision and strategy. For example, if the vision is to become the premier provider of web hosting services and the strategy is to provide superior staff training, customer service, and technical web hosting solutions, then during this process the business analyst must build consensus around this vision and strategy. Lofty statements like “become the premier” and “provide superior staff” must be operationalized into measurable objectives. Financial measures such as gross sales or ROI provide a look back at past performance, while individual process measurements provide a here-and-now look at how the output of processes have changed as a result of ICT ...