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We all have learned the hard way that cost cutting and cost reduction need not wait for a recession to strike. However, recession has certainly taught all of us the lesson that high budget necessarily does not convert itself into high business benefits. It is only validation and participation from all levels that an organisation can achieve the right balance between what it spends and the benefit from IT investments.
In the current day corporate scenario, most of the companies do not have any formal or detailed IT budget. IT is always considered as an expense, despite the fact that without it the business cannot operate anymore.
I have mostly seen planning for IT happening on an ad hoc basis, and requirements reaching the CIOs desk as if they have dropped suddenly from the sky. What this means is that the IT department has little room to plan.
Most of the time and energy goes in managing what is at hand, and very little focus is accorded to integrating business and IT, or planning how business can better leverage ICT. It is very apparent that organisations that have understood the power of IT have benefited immensely from the same.
Remember the days, when visiting a hotel for our dinner, our first glance used to be on the right hand side of the menu. Our taste buds were guided by the costthe lower the better. This mindset is all pervasive in every walk of todays corporate life.
A budget is based on what the company can afford, and there is always a gap between the needs and the capacity. Therefore, it is obvious that with limited budget, the business benefits can never reach anywhere close to the business needs.
Unfortunately, most organisations give low priority to IT planning. Technology, now being the backbone of almost every organisation, is akin to the nervous system of the company. Its breakdown will mean direct loss of business and, therefore, must be accorded a priority similar to sales, manufacturing or other core functions.
When Deming and JM Juran started their quality campaign in the 1980s, the mantra was Quality is everyones job. Consequently, the quality of manufacturing, has undergone a sea change. Similarly, IT is so embedded in almost every organisation that it has to be everyones concern, and not that of the CIO alone. The day, this understanding is embedded in the mind of all CXOs, they will witness a sea change in the benefit technology can bring to their business.
Here are a few tips that can help IT managers reap rich benefits even with low IT budgets.
Always plan technology for your needs, not on the basis of what you can afford. One should look for solutions that fit the budget without compromising needs. For everything there is a solution. You have to put in extra effort to look around, or strike a balance where necessary. Dont forget to review the actual benefits achieved after the project.
As an IT manager, you should never ignore the fact that gaps will continue to exist between the plan and the actual expenditure. But the key to success lies in reviewing and reducing the gaps in the future. You can achieve that by making your IT an internal business. Effective programme management and control within IT and user departments will deliver far more benefits without spending anything extra.
To do that you need to have the benchmarks to compare performance. But do not stop there; try to create your own benchmarks for others to follow.
In the end, remember that your wants may always not be the needs of the organisation. Think, involve others and evolve a consensus on requirements. By doing this and more, you can achieve the same result or even better ones by spending less. So the next time, you are asked to make an assessment, remember the thumb rule, costliest is not always the best.
The author has been a tech leader for more than a decade, and has been associated with companies like Hutchinson and the Reliance Group. Currently, he is the CEO of Sears IT & Management Services India
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