Client Successes |
Optimizing IT PortfolioFortune 500 Media Company ChallengeA new CIO of billion dollar + division of a Fortune 500 media company needed to quickly assess the effectiveness and efficiency of IT business units under his supervision. He wanted answers to several vital questions. How were they investing corporate funds in IT projects? How were projects approved? Were the right ones being approved? Were efficiencies and best practices being leveraged across business units? Were they getting value for the money they were spending each year? In the absence of easy answers to these questions, the 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 were already 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 a 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. |
