Client Successes |
Optimizing IT PortfolioFortune 500 Media Company ChallengeAs the new CIO of Billion Dollar + division of a Fortune 500 media company, you need to come in and quickly assess how effective and efficient the business units under your supervision are when investing corporate funds in IT projects. How are projects approved? Are the right ones being approved? Are efficiencies and best practices being leveraged across business units? Am I getting value for the money I am spending each year? In the absence of easy answers to these questions, our client asked Customer Value Partners to help him construct an initial IT Portfolio, evaluate it, and create a roadmap for instituting a Portfolio-based management approach across his business units. Approach and ResultsThe key to this solution was not identifying best practices; best practice methodologies for Portfolio Management are well defined. The important part of developing the right approach was working with the business units to understand the current state of their IT operations and the processes used to govern those processes. That understanding, gained while capturing objective data about the current state of IT projects, systems, talent, and governance allowed the CVP team to construct the following elements critical to our client's ability to run his organization: 1) a database of critical information on the current state of projects, systems, talent, and governance; 2) a set of fact-based high-priority improvement opportunities; and 3) a recommendation for a "light" portfolio management model that would speed adoption of good practices and set the stage for more rigorous process once success rhythms were established. Since the implementation of these recommendations, the client has improved oversight on technology spending and an enhanced reporting capability between business units, division, and corporate decision makers. The end result is an improved alignment of IT investment with corporate strategy and a goal of 10% additional productivity from the $100 million IT budget. |
