Forrester's IT Forum 2009, May 19-22, 2009, Las Vegas, NV - Forrester Research

Forrester's IT Forum 2009, May 19-22, 2009, Las Vegas, NV - Forrester Research: ""

http://bit.ly/IBtsn

Forrester Twitters Away in Las Vegas

I've long been a big fan of Forrester Research. The research is relevant, meaty enough and usually written in a style that is easily digested. I used to carry the latest research with me whenever I traveled as reading material. Never had to worry about battery life or the person in front of me shattering the hinges on my laptop by pushing the seat back.

This week I'm following the 2009 Forrester IT Forum on Twitter from the comfort of my office. Snippets of 140 characters from the keynote and a bazillion retweets. (The hashtag to follow along is #FITF09).

Some interesting stuff I can use in talking with Boards of Directors and CxO's in our consulting work.

"#FITF09 Forrester data shows IT only delivers 1/2 the value expected from business' perspective. Only 1/3 measure value post-implementation." Ok, now that's good stuff....at least when it comes to selling the CEO. Sad at the same time as IT/CIO's continue to struggle with the ever-popular IT-Business Alignment challenge.

In the end this is a CIO's failure not the business'. Unless the project is to "fix" something within IT there's no reason on earth that IT should be solely accountable for delivery of value! CIOs- If the business doesn't OWN the project AND the value proposition, you're in trouble from day one! Secondly, if as CIO you're signing up for a project where value delivery is your responsibility you better know from the beginning how you're going to get it.

See, it's OK in my book to sign up for delivering the project ROI as long as you've got the ability to bring it off. That means agreement from the business and the CxO's that you are going to be able to make the business changes necessary. You can't be held accountable for business results not in your area of responsibility. Yet it happens all the time. We see it in our work and Forrester's research shows it as well.

So what's a savvy CIO to do?


1. Start by being very clear in your own mind about how the benefits are derived. Headcount reduction? Exactly what is going to enable that to happen? What are the critical success factors and how are they measured? What are the interim milestones along the way?


2. The business leadership needs to have the same understanding and clarity around not just the benefits but how they'll be obtained, who's responsible, what the metrics- both interim and final- and how they're calculated.

3. Track, report and act on the interim milestones. This has to be done in the context of the steering committee where the business owners and IT meet to review progress. This is where things begin to break down. Projects never get off the rails all of a sudden. Failing to deliver expected value occurs a missed milestone at a time. So project governance becomes a critical success factor.

Seems easy enough but why do CIO's continue to fail on this point?? What do you think?