Book description
"This book is important reading. It offers practical, real-world
insight and pragmatic no-nonsense approaches for people who have a
stake in corporate IT. "
—Lynda Applegate, Henry R. Byers Professor of Business
Administration, Harvard Business School
"Information systems and processes are very important parts of
our due diligence assessment of a company—yet the jargon is
often more difficult to understand than many foreign languages.
Baschab and Piot effectively translate IT into words and concepts
that businesspeople can easily understand and act upon. This book
is a helpful reference guide for corporate executives and private
equity groups of all types."
—Neal Aronson, Managing Partner, Roark Capital Group
"Business success increasingly depends on effective use of IT.
Effective use of IT depends on the kind of in-depth, practical
insight in this book. Baschab and Piot provide a pragmatic approach
to information systems investment that should be required reading
for senior executives and CIOs alike."
—Erik Brynjolfsson, Schussel Professor of Management,
Director of the Center for Digital Business, MIT
"This book should provide valuable guidance for management and
technology consultants. The Executive's Guide to Information
Technology provides field-proven insight on all important aspects
of IT planning and execution, from governance to applications to
operations and infrastructure."
—Gary J. Fernandes, former vice chairman, EDS, member of the
Board of Directors, Computer Associates
"Baschab and Piot do a great job of laying out the fundamental
issues and challenges that every IT organization faces. More often
than not, the issues are not technical in nature, but are a
reflection of how the IT and business teams work together to
define, execute, and implement new business tools. The threshold
issue is leadership. Often it is difficult for business leaders to
feel that they have the skills and perspective to provide that
leadership on technical projects. The Executive's Guide to
Information Technology provides non-technical business leaders a
solid framework for engaging with their IT peers."
—Tom Nealon, Chief Information Officer, J.C. Penney
Table of contents
- Copyright
- Foreword
- Preface to the Second Edition
- Preface to the First Edition
- Acknowledgments
- About the Authors
-
I. The Effective IT Organization
- 1. The IT Dilemma
- 2. IT Ineffectiveness Sources and Causes
-
3. Information Technology Costs
- Why This Topic Is Important
- Introduction to Benchmarking IT Spending
- IT Spending—Trends, Comparisons, and Benchmarking
- Key IT Cost Drivers
- Scale Economies
- Aligning IT Spending with Business Strategy
- Taking Action Based on Spending Benchmarks
- IT Spending Decisions: Summary
- Notes
- 4. IT Scope and Strategy
-
II. Managing the IT Department
-
5. The IT Organization
- Why This Topic Is Important
- IT Organization Overview
- IT Department Organization Structure
- IT Operations and Infrastructure Group
-
Application Development and Support
- Application Development Teams
- Application Support Group
- Application Testing
- Database Administrator
- Electronic Data Interchange/Application Interface Specialist
- Business Analyst Group
- Manager of Applications Management
- Key Drivers for IT Development Structure and Staffing Levels
- Separation of Responsibilities between Operations and Applications Groups
- CIO and Administrative Support
- Other IT Organizational Issues
- Summary
-
Resources
- Note
-
6. The Chief Information Officer
- Why This Topic Is Important
- Critical Role of the CIO
- The Talent Challenge
- Responsibilities and Skills Needed
- How Successful CIOs Allocate Their Time
- Recruiting and Retaining the Ideal Candidate
- Other Factors Impacting the CIO’s Role
- Getting Promoted
- The Role of the IT Steering Committee
- Evaluating the CIO
- The CTO
- Organizations for CIOs
- Notes
-
7. IT Standards
- Why This Topic Is Important
- Standard Setting for Technology Areas
-
Framework for Setting Technology Standards
- Decision Factor: Mission Criticality
- Decision Factor: Unit Volume
- Decision Factor: Stability of Area Supported
- Decision Factor: Expected Asset Lifetime
- Decision Factor: Level of Customization
- Decision Factor: Interfaces with Other Systems
- Decision Factor: Current and Future Transaction Volume Required
- Decision Factor: Organization Growth Plans
- Decision Factor: Size/Type of User Base
- Cost as a Criterion
- Free and Open Source Software
- Product Life-Cycle Analysis and Implications for Technology Standard Setting
- Communicating IT Standards to the Business
- Enforcing IT Standards
- What to Do When You Inherit a “Highly Heterogeneous Environment”
- Summary
- Sources of Information for Assessing Technology Standards
- Notes
-
8. IT Operations and Infrastructure
- Why This Topic Is Important
- Scope of Operations
- Performance Management and Service Level Agreements
-
Techniques for Standardizing IT Operations
- Create Inventory of Routine Tasks
- Develop Standard Operating Procedure for Task
- Test the Standard Operating Procedure
- Set Labor Standard for Task
- Create Final Documentation and Checklist
- Add to SOP Master List and Train
- Incorporate into Staff Evaluation Processes
- Use for Managing and Measuring Staff
- Update/Refresh SOP
- Setting Staffing Resource Levels
- Importance of Process Improvement and Root Cause Analysis
- Communicating Success
- Evaluating Infrastructure Investments
- Summary
- Resources
- Notes
- 9. IT Problem Management
- 10. Application Management
- 11. IT Human Resources
-
12. Vendor Selection
- Why This Topic Is Important
- Application Vendor Economics
-
Vendor Selection Methodology
- Overview of Methodology
- Scope and Requirements Definition
- Preliminary Vendor Screening
- Manage RFP Process
- Vendor Due Diligence
- Supplemental Vendor Selection
- Project Planning and Approval
- Vendor Negotiation
- Resources
- Note
-
13. Vendor Management and Outsourcing
- Why This Topic Is Important
- Vendors as Partners
- Vendor Management Role
- Taking Control of Vendor Management
- Beginning New Vendor Relationships
- Vendor Contracts
- Managing Vendor Performance
- Working with Vendors’ Other Customers
- Vendor Recompetes
- Offshoring and Outsourcing
- Managing Troubled Vendors
- Ethics in Purchasing and Vendor Management
- Summary
-
Resources
- Notes
-
5. The IT Organization
-
III. Senior Executive IT Management
-
14. Business Communications
- Why This Topic Is Important
- Benefits of Improving the IT/Business Relationship
-
How to Improve the Relationship between IT and the Business
- Set Goals for Each Level of the IT Organization
- Improve Social Interaction with the Business
- Improve Verbal and Written Communication Skills
- Hold the Business Units Accountable
- Build Communication and Relationship Attributes into Personnel Reviews
- Recruit Staff from the Business Side
- Promote IT
- Build Online Communication Mechanisms
- Make the Changes Permanent
- Notes
-
15. IT Budgeting and Cost Management
- Why This Topic Is Important
- Introduction to the Budgeting Process
- The Corporate Budgeting Process
- Understanding the Difference between Enterprise IT Spending and the IT Department Budget
- Key Components of the IT Budget
- How to Budget
- Key Cost Drivers
- Managing Capital Expenditures
- Lease versus Buy Decisions
- Auditing the IT Department
- Contingency Planning
- Managing the Budget
- Handling Out-of-Budget Business Unit Requests
- Chargebacks
- Summary
- Resource
- Notes
- 16. Effective Decision Making and Risk Management
-
17. Demand Management and Project Prioritization
- Why This Topic Is Important
- The Impact of IT Demand Management on Project Performance
- The Price of Project Failure
-
Why Good Project Management Is Not Enough
- Too Many Projects
- No Project Gatekeepers
- Too Many Simultaneous Projects
- Moving the Goalposts
- Too Much Elapsed Time
- Overambitious Goals
- Indistinct Goals
- Unclear Benefits
- Heterogeneous Technology
- Overconfidence Bias
- Outsiders Drive the Agenda
- No Individual Accountability
- Project Size
- Too Many Moving Parts
- Poor Communication
- A Methodology for IT Demand Management
- Resources
- Notes
- 18. IT Performance Measurement
-
19. IT Governance
- Why This Topic Is Important
- IT Governance
- Control and Audit
- Functions Supporting IT Governance
- IT Steering Committee Concept
- Purpose of an IT Steering Committee
- Objective of the IT Steering Committee
- Membership of the IT Steering Committee
- Structure of the IT Steering Committee
- Operating the IT Steering Committee
- Summary
-
Resources
- Note
-
14. Business Communications
Product information
- Title: The Executive’s Guide to Information Technology, Second Edition
- Author(s):
- Release date: March 2007
- Publisher(s): Wiley
- ISBN: 9780470095218
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