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IT STraTegy:
ISSueS and PracTIceS
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IT STraTegy:
ISSueS and PracTIceS
T h i r d E d i t i o n
James D. McKeen
Queen’s University
Heather A. Smith
Queen’s University
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McKeen, James D.
IT strategy: issues and practices/James D. McKeen, Queen’s University, Heather A. Smith,
Queen’s University.—Third edition.
pages cm
ISBN 978-0-13-354424-4 (alk. paper)
ISBN 0-13-354424-9 (alk. paper)
1. Information technology—Management. I. Smith, Heather A. II. Title.
HD30.2.M3987 2015
004.068—dc23
2014017950
ISBN–10: 0-13-354424-9
ISBN–13: 978-0-13-354424-4
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
CoNTENTS
Preface xiii
About the Authors xxi
Acknowledgments xxii
Section I Delivering Value with IT 1
Chapter 1 DeVelopIng anD DelIVerIng on The IT Value
propoSITIon 2
Peeling the Onion: Understanding IT Value 3
What Is IT Value? 3
Where Is IT Value? 4
Who Delivers IT Value? 5
When Is IT Value Realized? 5
The Three Components of the IT Value Proposition 6
Identification of Potential Value 7
Effective Conversion 8
Realizing Value 9
Five Principles for Delivering Value 10
Principle 1. Have a Clearly Defined Portfolio Value Management
Process 11
Principle 2. Aim for Chunks of Value 11
Principle 3. Adopt a Holistic Orientation to Technology Value 11
Principle 4. Aim for Joint Ownership of Technology Initiatives 12
Principle 5. Experiment More Often 12
Conclusion 12 • References 13
Chapter 2 DeVelopIng IT STraTegy for BuSIneSS Value 15
Business and IT Strategies: Past, Present, and Future 16
Four Critical Success Factors 18
The Many Dimensions of IT Strategy 20
Toward an IT Strategy-Development Process 22
Challenges for CIOs 23
Conclusion 25 • References 25
Chapter 3 lInkIng IT To BuSIneSS MeTrICS 27
Business Measurement: An Overview 28
Key Business Metrics for IT 30
v
vi Contents
Designing Business Metrics for IT 31
Advice to Managers 35
Conclusion 36 • References 36
Chapter 4 BuIlDIng a STrong relaTIonShIp
wITh The BuSIneSS 38
The Nature of the Business–IT Relationship 39
The Foundation of a Strong Business–IT
Relationship 41
Building Block #1: Competence 42
Building Block #2: Credibility 43
Building Block #3: Interpersonal Interaction 44
Building Block #4: Trust 46
Conclusion 48 • References 48
Appendix A The Five IT Value Profiles 50
Appendix B Guidelines for Building a Strong Business–IT
Relationship 51
Chapter 5 CoMMunICaTIng wITh BuSIneSS ManagerS 52
Communication in the Business–IT Relationship 53
What Is “Good” Communication? 54
Obstacles to Effective Communication 56
“T-Level” Communication Skills for IT Staff 58
Improving Business–IT Communication 60
Conclusion 61 • References 61
Appendix A IT Communication Competencies 63
Chapter 6 BuIlDIng BeTTer IT leaDerS froM
The BoTToM up 64
The Changing Role of the IT Leader 65
What Makes a Good IT Leader? 67
How to Build Better IT Leaders 70
Investing in Leadership Development: Articulating the Value
Proposition 73
Conclusion 74 • References 75
MInI CaSeS
Delivering Business Value with IT at Hefty Hardware 76
Investing in TUFS 80
IT Planning at ModMeters 82
Contents vii
Section II IT governance 87
Chapter 7 CreaTIng IT ShareD SerVICeS 88
IT Shared Services: An Overview 89
IT Shared Services: Pros and Cons 92
IT Shared Services: Key Organizational Success Factors 93
Identifying Candidate Services 94
An Integrated Model of IT Shared Services 95
Recommmendations for Creating Effective IT
Shared Services 96
Conclusion 99 • References 99
Chapter 8 a ManageMenT fraMework for
IT SourCIng 100
A Maturity Model for IT Functions 101
IT Sourcing Options: Theory Versus Practice 105
The “Real” Decision Criteria 109
Decision Criterion #1: Flexibility 109
Decision Criterion #2: Control 109
Decision Criterion #3: Knowledge Enhancement 110
Decision Criterion #4: Business Exigency 110
A Decision Framework for Sourcing IT Functions 111
Identify Your Core IT Functions 111
Create a “Function Sourcing” Profile 111
Evolve Full-Time IT Personnel 113
Encourage Exploration of the Whole Range
of Sourcing Options 114
Combine Sourcing Options Strategically 114
A Management Framework for Successful
Sourcing 115
Develop a Sourcing Strategy 115
Develop a Risk Mitigation Strategy 115
Develop a Governance Strategy 116
Understand the Cost Structures 116
Conclusion 117 • References 117
Chapter 9 The IT BuDgeTIng proCeSS 118
Key Concepts in IT Budgeting 119
The Importance of Budgets 121
The IT Planning and Budget Process 123
viii Contents
Corporate Processes 123
IT Processes 125
Assess Actual IT Spending 126
IT Budgeting Practices That Deliver Value 127
Conclusion 128 • References 129
Chapter 10 ManagIng IT- BaSeD rISk 130
A Holistic View of IT-Based Risk 131
Holistic Risk Management: A Portrait 134
Developing a Risk Management Framework 135
Improving Risk Management Capabilities 138
Conclusion 139 • References 140
Appendix A A Selection of Risk Classification
Schemes 141
Chapter 11 InforMaTIon ManageMenT: The nexuS
of BuSIneSS anD IT 142
Information Management: How Does IT Fit? 143
A Framework For IM 145
Stage One: Develop an IM Policy 145
Stage Two: Articulate the Operational
Components 145
Stage Three: Establish Information Stewardship 146
Stage Four: Build Information Standards 147
Issues In IM 148
Culture and Behavior 148
Information Risk Management 149
Information Value 150
Privacy 150
Knowledge Management 151
The Knowing–Doing Gap 151
Getting Started in IM 151
Conclusion 153 • References 154
Appendix A Elements of IM Operations 155
MInI CaSeS
Building Shared Services at RR Communications 156
Enterprise Architecture at Nationstate Insurance 160
IT Investment at North American Financial 165
Contents ix
Section III IT-enabled Innovation 169
Chapter 12 InnoVaTIon wITh IT 170
The Need for Innovation: An Historical
Perspective 171
The Need for Innovation Now 171
Understanding Innovation 172
The Value of Innovation 174
Innovation Essentials: Motivation, Support,
and Direction 175
Challenges for IT leaders 177
Facilitating Innovation 179
Conclusion 180 • References 181
Chapter 13 BIg DaTa anD SoCIal CoMpuTIng 182
The Social Media/Big Data Opportunity 183
Delivering Business Value with Big Data 185
Innovating with Big Data 189
Pulling in Two Different Directions: The Challenge
for IT Managers 190
First Steps for IT Leaders 192
Conclusion 193 • References 194
Chapter 14 IMproVIng The CuSToMer experIenCe:
an IT perSpeCTIVe 195
Customer Experience and Business value 196
Many Dimensions of Customer Experience 197
The Role of Technology in Customer Experience 199
Customer Experience Essentials for IT 200
First Steps to Improving Customer Experience 203
Conclusion 204 • References 204
Chapter 15 BuIlDIng BuSIneSS InTellIgenCe 206
Understanding Business Intelligence 207
The Need for Business Intelligence 208
The Challenge of Business Intelligence 209
The Role of IT in Business Intelligence 211
Improving Business Intelligence 213
Conclusion 216 • References 216
x Contents
Chapter 16 enaBlIng CollaBoraTIon wITh IT 218
Why Collaborate? 219
Characteristics of Collaboration 222
Components of Successful Collaboration 225
The Role of IT in Collaboration 227
First Steps for Facilitating Effective Collaboration 229
Conclusion 231 • References 232
MInI CaSeS
Innovation at International Foods 234
Consumerization of Technology at IFG 239
CRM at Minitrex 243
Customer Service at Datatronics 246
Section IV IT portfolio Development and Management 251
Chapter 17 applICaTIon porTfolIo ManageMenT 252
The Applications Quagmire 253
The Benefits of a Portfolio Perspective 254
Making APM Happen 256
Capability 1: Strategy and Governance 258
Capability 2: Inventory Management 262
Capability 3: Reporting and Rationalization 263
Key Lessons Learned 264
Conclusion 265 • References 265
Appendix A Application Information 266
Chapter 18 ManagIng IT DeManD 270
Understanding IT Demand 271
The Economics of Demand Management 273
Three Tools for Demand management 273
Key Organizational Enablers for Effective Demand
Management 274
Strategic Initiative Management 275
Application Portfolio Management 276
Enterprise Architecture 276
Business–IT Partnership 277
Governance and Transparency 279
Conclusion 281 • References 281
Contents xi
Chapter 19 CreaTIng anD eVolVIng a TeChnology
roaDMap 283
What is a Technology Roadmap? 284
The Benefits of a Technology Roadmap 285
External Benefits (Effectiveness) 285
Internal Benefits (Efficiency) 286
Elements of the Technology Roadmap 286
Activity #1: Guiding Principles 287
Activity #2: Assess Current Technology 288
Activity #3: Analyze Gaps 289
Activity #4: Evaluate Technology
Landscape 290
Activity #5: Describe Future Technology 291
Activity #6: Outline Migration Strategy 292
Activity #7: Establish Governance 292
Practical Steps for Developing a Technology
Roadmap 294
Conclusion 295 • References 295
Appendix A Principles to Guide a Migration
Strategy 296
Chapter 20 enhanCIng DeVelopMenT
proDuCTIVITy 297
The Problem with System Development 298
Trends in System Development 299
Obstacles to Improving System Development
Productivity 302
Improving System Development Productivity: What we
know that Works 304
Next Steps to Improving System Development
Productivity 306
Conclusion 308 • References 308
Chapter 21 InforMaTIon DelIVery: IT’S eVolVIng role 310
Information and IT: Why Now? 311
Delivering Value Through Information 312
Effective Information Delivery 316
New Information Skills 316
New Information Roles 317
New Information Practices 317
xii Contents
New Information Strategies 318
The Future of Information Delivery 319
Conclusion 321 • References 322
MInI CaSeS
Project Management at MM 324
Working Smarter at Continental Furniture International 328
Managing Technology at Genex Fuels 333
Index 336
PREFACE
Today, with information technology (IT) driving constant business transformation,
overwhelming organizations with information, enabling 24/7 global operations, and
undermining traditional business models, the challenge for business leaders is not
simply to manage IT, it is to use IT to deliver business value. Whereas until fairly recently,
decisions about IT could be safely delegated to technology specialists after a business
strategy had been developed, IT is now so closely integrated with business that, as one
CIO explained to us, “We can no longer deliver business solutions in our company
without using technology so IT and business strategy must constantly interact with
each other.”
What’s New in This Third Edition?
• Six new chapters focusing on current critical issues in IT management, including
IT shared services; big data and social computing; business intelligence; manag-
ing IT demand; improving the customer experience; and enhancing development
productivity.
• Two significantly revised chapters: on delivering IT functions through different
resourcing options; and innovating with IT.
• Two new mini cases based on real companies and real IT management situations:
Working Smarter at Continental Furniture and Enterprise Architecture at Nationstate
Insurance.
• A revised structure based on reader feedback with six chapters and two mini cases
from the second edition being moved to the Web site.
All too often, in our efforts to prepare future executives to deal effectively with
the issues of IT strategy and management, we lead them into a foreign country where
they encounter a different language, different culture, and different customs. Acronyms
(e.g., SOA, FTP/IP, SDLC, ITIL, ERP), buzzwords (e.g., asymmetric encryption, proxy
servers, agile, enterprise service bus), and the widely adopted practice of abstraction
(e.g., Is a software monitor a person, place, or thing?) present formidable “barriers to
entry” to the technologically uninitiated, but more important, they obscure the impor-
tance of teaching students how to make business decisions about a key organizational
resource. By taking a critical issues perspective, IT Strategy: Issues and Practices treats IT
as a tool to be leveraged to save and/or make money or transform an organization—not
as a study by itself.
As in the first two editions of this book, this third edition combines the experi-
ences and insights of many senior IT managers from leading-edge organizations with
thorough academic research to bring important issues in IT management to life and
demonstrate how IT strategy is put into action in contemporary businesses. This new
edition has been designed around an enhanced set of critical real-world issues in IT
management today, such as innovating with IT, working with big data and social media,
xiii
xiv Preface
enhancing customer experience, and designing for business intelligence and introduces
students to the challenges of making IT decisions that will have significant impacts on
how businesses function and deliver value to stakeholders.
IT Strategy: Issues and Practices focuses on how IT is changing and will continue to
change organizations as we now know them. However, rather than learning concepts
“free of context,” students are introduced to the complex decisions facing real organi-
zations by means of a number of mini cases. These provide an opportunity to apply
the models/theories/frameworks presented and help students integrate and assimilate
this material. By the end of the book, students will have the confidence and ability to
tackle the tough issues regarding IT management and strategy and a clear understand-
ing of their importance in delivering business value.
Key Features of This Book
• A focus on IT management issues as opposed to technology issues
• Critical IT issues explored within their organizational contexts
• Readily applicable models and frameworks for implementing IT strategies
• Mini cases to animate issues and focus classroom discussions on real-world deci-
sions, enabling problem-based learning
• Proven strategies and best practices from leading-edge organizations
• Useful and practical advice and guidelines for delivering value with IT
• Extensive teaching notes for all mini cases
A Different ApproAch to teAching it StrAtegy
The real world of IT is one of issues—critical issues—such as the following:
• How do we know if we are getting value from our IT investment?
• How can we innovate with IT?
• What specific IT functions should we seek from external providers?
• How do we build an IT leadership team that is a trusted partner with the business?
• How do we enhance IT capabilities?
• What is IT’s role in creating an intelligent business?
• How can we best take advantage of new technologies, such as big data and social
media, in our business?
• How can we manage IT risk?
However, the majority of management information systems (MIS) textbooks are orga-
nized by system category (e.g., supply chain, customer relationship management, enterprise
resource planning), by system component (e.g., hardware, software, networks), by system
function (e.g., marketing, financial, human resources), by system type (e.g., transactional,
decisional, strategic), or by a combination of these. Unfortunately, such an organization
does not promote an understanding of IT management in practice.
IT Strategy: Issues and Practices tackles the real-world challenges of IT manage-
ment. First, it explores a set of the most important issues facing IT managers today, and
second, it provides a series of mini cases that present these critical IT issues within the
context of real organizations. By focusing the text as well as the mini cases on today’s
critical issues, the book naturally reinforces problem-based learning.
Preface xv
IT Strategy: Issues and Practices includes thirteen mini cases—each based on a real
company presented anonymously.1 Mini cases are not simply abbreviated versions of
standard, full-length business cases. They differ in two significant ways:
1. A horizontal perspective. Unlike standard cases that develop a single issue within
an organizational setting (i.e., a “vertical” slice of organizational life), mini cases
take a “horizontal” slice through a number of coexistent issues. Rather than looking
for a solution to a specific problem, as in a standard case, students analyzing a mini
case must first identify and prioritize the issues embedded within the case. This mim-
ics real life in organizations where the challenge lies in “knowing where to start” as
opposed to “solving a predefined problem.”
2. Highly relevant information. Mini cases are densely written. Unlike standard
cases, which intermix irrelevant information, in a mini case, each sentence exists for
a reason and reflects relevant information. As a result, students must analyze each
case very carefully so as not to miss critical aspects of the situation.
Teaching with mini cases is, thus, very different than teaching with standard cases.
With mini cases, students must determine what is really going on within the organiza-
tion. What first appears as a straightforward “technology” problem may in fact be a
political problem or one of five other “technology” problems. Detective work is, there-
fore, required. The problem identification and prioritization skills needed are essential
skills for future managers to learn for the simple reason that it is not possible for organi-
zations to tackle all of their problems concurrently. Mini cases help teach these skills to
students and can balance the problem-solving skills learned in other classes. Best of all,
detective work is fun and promotes lively classroom discussion.
To assist instructors, extensive teaching notes are available for all mini cases. Developed
by the authors and based on “tried and true” in-class experience, these notes include case
summaries, identify the key issues within each case, present ancillary information about the
company/industry represented in the case, and offer guidelines for organizing the class-
room discussion. Because of the structure of these mini cases and their embedded issues, it
is common for teaching notes to exceed the length of the actual mini case!
This book is most appropriate for MIS courses where the goal is to understand how
IT delivers organizational value. These courses are frequently labeled “IT Strategy” or
“IT Management” and are offered within undergraduate as well as MBA programs. For
undergraduate juniors and seniors in business and commerce programs, this is usually
the “capstone” MIS course. For MBA students, this course may be the compulsory core
course in MIS, or it may be an elective course.
Each chapter and mini case in this book has been thoroughly tested in a variety
of undergraduate, graduate, and executive programs at Queen’s School of Business.2
1 We are unable to identify these leading-edge companies by agreements established as part of our overall
research program (described later).
2 Queen’s School of Business is one of the world’s premier business schools, with a faculty team renowned
for its business experience and academic credentials. The School has earned international recognition for
its innovative approaches to team-based and experiential learning. In addition to its highly acclaimed MBA
programs, Queen’s School of Business is also home to Canada’s most prestigious undergraduate business
program and several outstanding graduate programs. As well, the School is one of the world’s largest and
most respected providers of executive education.
xvi Preface
These materials have proven highly successful within all programs because we adapt
how the material is presented according to the level of the students. Whereas under-
graduate students “learn” about critical business issues from the book and mini cases
for the first time, graduate students are able to “relate” to these same critical issues
based on their previous business experience. As a result, graduate students are able to
introduce personal experiences into the discussion of these critical IT issues.
orgAnizAtion of thiS Book
One of the advantages of an issues-focused structure is that chapters can be approached
in any order because they do not build on one another. Chapter order is immaterial; that
is, one does not need to read the first three chapters to understand the fourth. This pro-
vides an instructor with maximum flexibility to organize a course as he or she sees fit.
Thus, within different courses/programs, the order of topics can be changed to focus on
different IT concepts.
Furthermore, because each mini case includes multiple issues, they, too, can be
used to serve different purposes. For example, the mini case “Building Shared Services
at RR Communications” can be used to focus on issues of governance, organizational
structure, and/or change management just as easily as shared services. The result is a
rich set of instructional materials that lends itself well to a variety of pedagogical appli-
cations, particularly problem-based learning, and that clearly illustrates the reality of IT
strategy in action.
The book is organized into four sections, each emphasizing a key component of
developing and delivering effective IT strategy:
• Section I: Delivering Value with IT is designed to examine the complex ways that
IT and business value are related. Over the past twenty years, researchers and prac-
titioners have come to understand that “business value” can mean many different
things when applied to IT. Chapter 1 (Developing and Delivering on the IT Value
Proposition) explores these concepts in depth. Unlike the simplistic value propo-
sitions often used when implementing IT in organizations, this chapter presents
“value” as a multilayered business construct that must be effectively managed at
several levels if technology is to achieve the benefits expected. Chapter 2 (Developing
IT Strategy for Business Value) examines the dynamic interrelationship between
business and IT strategy and looks at the processes and critical success factors
used by organizations to ensure that both are well aligned. Chapter 3 (Linking IT
to Business Metrics) discusses new ways of measuring IT’s effectiveness that pro-
mote closer business–IT alignment and help drive greater business value. Chapter
4 (Building a Strong Relationship with the Business) examines the nature of the
business–IT relationship and the characteristics of an effective relationship that
delivers real value to the enterprise. Chapter 5 (Communicating with Business
Managers) explores the business and interpersonal competencies that IT staff will
need in order to do their jobs effectively over the next five to seven years and what
companies should be doing to develop them. Finally, Chapter 6 (Building Better IT
Leaders from the Bottom Up) tackles the increasing need for improved leadership
skills in all IT staff and examines the expectations of the business for strategic and
innovative guidance from IT.
Preface xvii
In the mini cases associated with this section, the concepts of delivering
value with IT are explored in a number of different ways. We see business and
IT executives at Hefty Hardware grappling with conflicting priorities and per-
spectives and how best to work together to achieve the company’s strategy. In
“Investing in TUFS,” CIO Martin Drysdale watches as all of the work his IT depart-
ment has put into a major new system fails to deliver value. And the “IT Planning
at ModMeters” mini case follows CIO Brian Smith’s efforts to create a strategic
IT plan that will align with business strategy, keep IT running, and not increase
IT’s budget.
• Section II: IT Governance explores key concepts in how the IT organization is
structured and managed to effectively deliver IT products and services to the orga-
nization. Chapter 7 (IT Shared Services) discusses how IT shared services should be
selected, organized, managed, and governed to achieve improved organizational
performance. Chapter 8 (A Management Framework for IT Sourcing) examines
how organizations are choosing to source and deliver different types of IT functions
and presents a framework to guide sourcing decisions. Chapter 9 (The IT Budgeting
Process) describes the “evil twin” of IT strategy, discussing how budgeting mecha-
nisms can significantly undermine effective business strategies and suggesting
practices for addressing this problem while maintaining traditional fiscal account-
ability. Chapter 10 (Managing IT-based Risk) describes how many IT organizations
have been given the responsibility of not only managing risk in their own activities
(i.e., project development, operations, and delivering business strategy) but also
of managing IT-based risk in all company activities (e.g., mobile computing, file
sharing, and online access to information and software) and the need for a holistic
framework to understand and deal with risk effectively. Chapter 11 (Information
Management: The Nexus of Business and IT) describes how new organizational
needs for more useful and integrated information are driving the development of
business-oriented functions within IT that focus specifically on information and
knowledge, as opposed to applications and data.
The mini cases in this section examine the difficulties of managing com-
plex IT issues when they intersect substantially with important business issues.
In “Building Shared Services at RR Communications,” we see an IT organiza-
tion in transition from a traditional divisional structure and governance model
to a more centralized enterprise model, and the long-term challenges experi-
enced by CIO Vince Patton in changing both business and IT practices, includ-
ing information management and delivery, to support this new approach. In
“Enterprise Architecture at Nationstate Insurance,” CIO Jane Denton endeavors
to make IT more flexible and agile, while incorporating new and emerging tech-
nologies into its strategy. In “IT Investment at North American Financial,” we
show the opportunities and challenges involved in prioritizing and resourcing
enterprisewide IT projects and monitoring that anticipated benefits are being
achieved.
• Section III: IT-Enabled Innovation discusses some of the ways technology is
being used to transform organizations. Chapter 12 (Innovation with IT) examines
the nature and importance of innovation with IT and describes a typical inno-
vation life cycle. Chapter 13 (Big Data and Social Computing) discusses how IT
leaders are incorporating big data and social media concepts and technologies
xviii Preface
to successfully deliver business value in new ways. Chapter 14 (Improving the
Customer Experience: An IT Perspective) explores the IT function’s role in creating
and improving an …