Making Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Roadmap to Better Business Cases
Studies show that over 50% of all Information Technology (IT) projects fail. These failures not only cost companies millions of dollars in investments but also handicap other strategic initiatives impacted by the IT projects. Flawed usage of business case project justifications is a major, unaddressed cause of these IT value shortfalls. Rather than being an ad hoc, limited-life document with scant management oversight, twenty-first century business cases must become management's primary device for identifying, tracking, and realizing IT value. Employing their globally acclaimed VALUE-on-Demand(TM) methodology, Jack Keen and Bonnie Digrius offer proven, easily applied tools for maximizing IT value in Making Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Road Map to Better Business Cases.The authors begin by diagnosing five conditions within a company that together or separately can sabotage a sensible ROI-based approach to improving IT success:* Tolerance by senior management of the frequency with which technology projects fail to achieve their expected business value* Low executive awareness that a root cause of these frustrations to technology payoff is traceable to broken, yet fixable methods of creating and using business cases as an integral part of IT value management* A mistaken belief among senior management that minor, ad hoc adjustments to existing processes will solve the problem of technology value shortfalls* A lack of pragmatic knowledge of how to develop good, trustworthy ROI business case methods quickly and well* A legacy of ROI business cases within the enterprise which, when closely examined, are seen to be unrealistically high, unknowingly low, and/or unconvincingMaking Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Road Map to Better Business Cases addresses each of these situations, systematically demonstrating how they can be defused to pave the way for improved returns from IT investments. Drawing upon their combined experience with over 200 IT projects in 15 countries, the authors emphasize that creating a successful ROI business case usage process is more about structured conversations than calculations, with advice on how to bring all personnel on board the program. Keeping a "how-to" focus throughout, the book delivers practical tools, techniques and tips, and offers insightful case studies and examples on how to realize more business value from IT investments. The book also includes reference to a companion Web site with additional tips and resources on VALUE-on-Demand(TM) methods.In addition to discussing how IT buyers and users can extract more IT value from their investments, the book explains how IT vendors can enhance their appeal to buyers by making the ROI-impact of their solutions more visible and appealing. Anyone interested in taking the mystery out of maximizing value from IT investments will find Making Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Road Map to Better Business Cases a must-read.