Making Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Roadmap to Better Business Cases

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0471227331 ISBN 13: 9780471227335

Publisher: Wiley, 2002

Insuring the value of IT ventures, from implementation through execution
Over 50 percent of all Information Technology projects fail, not only costing companies considerable monetary investment but also thwarting key strategic initiatives for which the new technology was critical. This book helps executives and managers increase IT project success by using a process for identifying the true ROI value for proposed IT investments-"Real ROI"-then tracking project results against that standard. This guide provides an abundance of pragmatic tips, tools, and techniques to make the process easy to understand, focusing on implementing an ROI plan as well as on tracking IT investments and measuring results postimplementation.

From the Back Cover:

Take the mystery-and anxiety-out of maximizing IT value

It is not unusual for companies to scrupulously analyze a fifty-dollar expense report, yet blithely commit millions of dollars to Information Technology projects that statistics show fail over 50% of the time. Making Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Road Map to Better Business Cases applies the authors proven VALUE-on-Demand(TM) methods to maximizing the business payoff from IT projects.

Jack Keen and Bonnie Digrius's forward-thinking study provides an abundance of practical tools, tips, and techniques for elevating the role of ROI-savvy business cases to become a firm's prime driver of improved payoff from IT investments. The book shows managers how to:
* Formulate simple, but powerful ROI business cases that help maximize the value from IT investments
* Develop easy-to-install procedures for selecting and prioritizing competing IT investments
* Implement straightforward methods for tracking IT value during implementation and operation

The authors include examples and case studies gleaned from their experiences in applying their VALUE-on-Demand(TM) methods to over 200 projects in North and South America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region.

Making Technology Investments Profitable: ROI Road Map to Better Business Cases provides a welcome, essential guide for CFOs, CIOs, IT managers, business unit managers, IT sellers, and consultants interested in applying simple, but powerful techniques for enhancing IT value.

"The value proposition of technology has always been about reducing cost or increasing revenue. In this book, Jack Keen and Bonnie Digrius show companies how to ensure that technology is really doing that. Making Technology Investments Profitable is direct and straightforward advice, highly recommended for companies and vendors alike."
-Craig A. Conway, President and Chief Executive Officer, PeopleSoft(r) inc.

"An extraordinary, practical, how-to-do-it book. The authors have been there, have the battle scars, and have an important message to communicate and do so with great impact. It should be on every CIO's and project manager's desktop."
-F. Warren McFarlan, Professor, Harvard Business School

"This book is packed full of practical techniques for measuring and powerfully communicating ROI. Every company, large or small, must justify their products or services to both their sales prospects and internal executives. Every businessperson needs this book!"
-Christine Comaford Lynch, General Partner, Novus Ventures

"Authors Keen and Digrius have created a powerful ensemble of topics that remove the stigma of traditional ROI process as well as offering a rare blend of conventional wisdom combined with practical guidelines, useful appendices, charts, checklists, and anecdotal user experiences. Comprehensive and complete, this book provides a litany of techniques for project success."
-Paul C. Tinnirello, Executive Vice President, Information Services Division, A. M. Best Company

From the Inside Flap:

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 unconvincing

Making 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.