Headlines:
- Cost reduction can be an opportunity to align better with business needs
- Measuring IT service provision is an opportunity to align better with key business processes
- Business processes may not be fully supporting the evolving business strategy
- Looking at all three in an integrated way is an effective way of driving change and reducing costs.
We’ve been talking a lot of late to IT budget holders about the increasing pressure they face to cut costs in these recessionary times.
However, before blindly cutting items on the budget sheet, we recommend that the true needs of the business are established using a repeatable, consistent and unbiased measurement model. From this solid foundation it’s then possible to formulate an aligned change programme that delivers cost savings without compromising the current or future IT service delivery capabilities. This is precisely the purpose of our AssessIT® product, which is part of our unique Enterprise Range.
What about the Business Processes?
That’s fine for the IT services but, they are the supporting tools that aid the execution of the company’s business processes. Is there not an opportunity to save cost by changing these business processes to better align them to the strategy of the company?
The answer is a resounding ‘yes!’ and already, many outsourcing organisations are starting to focus their efforts up the value chain and talk about Business Processes Outsourcing (BPO) as a cost saving opportunity for companies.
Unfortunately, the level of discussion is usually restricted to just the inputs and outputs of these business processes which completely overlook other critical capabilities that must be delivered (e.g. time to delivery, exception handling, ongoing reporting etc.) and which have a major impact on the alignment of business processes to the company’s business strategy.
Without a clear understanding of these additional capabilities you will be locked into assessing the relative merits of a BPO proposition without a full understanding of your needs. That could be an expensive mistake only realised after the Contract has been signed.
Measure the Process then Engage in a Transformational Change Programme
Our advice is clear; measure the business processes in a manner that details the true needs of the business. From this solid foundation, it is then possible to formulate an aligned change programme that delivers true and measureable business benefit.
Our BizMaps® product provides this consistent foundation, and is part of our Enterprise Range. It also fully integrates the supporting IT services as measured using our AssessIT® product.