Too many Organizations leave too much money on the table. And then they talk about reducing cost.
ICT Cost reduction seems to be a Business driver for IT Projects. That may be valid for as long as the ICT Department is considered a Cost Center. The two major KPI’s are Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and Return on Investment (ROI).
Both KPI’s can be looked at from the perspective of “cost”. I would rather look at it from the perspective of “Value”. A statement I make frequently: Any Organization can increase productivity by at least 30% without investing in software or hardware. You already have everything; you just do not use it the way it is supposed to or can be used.
That applies to IT Professionals (your IT Staff), responsible for both TCO and ROI, and it applies to your Users, mostly responsible for ROI. For IT Staff, what is missing, is Training and Certification on the Technologies in place. For Users there is a huge lack in PC Literacy. On the C-level, onboard a CTO, in the end, decisions are made here. Knowledge being the Key distinction here.
When engaging in the Knowledge space, IT will move from being a Cost Center to a Business enabler, a new perspective. It is called Digital Transformation.
So, we can have 2 conversations now, choose:
- Spend time scraping money out of all corners and get a marginal cost reduction as a result. Little impact on TCO and ROI.
- Start using what you pay for and squeeze all the Value out of your software and hardware investments. Exciting impact on TCO and ROI!
Something to consider for 2021 and beyond…….
Happy transforming….. !