|
Videos
February 1, 2005 By Tod Newcombe
But there's no question that in business and government, there has been a disconnect between what technology can do and what it can deliver, namely a service.
Ken Wendle of HP likens IT departments within organizations to restaurants without menus. One day, you go in for a meal and there's plenty of steak; the next day, it's all seafood. And price, quality and quantity keep changing. As a diner, that would drive you crazy, especially if there's only one restaurant in town.
That's the complaint agencies have long voiced about their IT departments, and so have auditors and CFOs. As a result, CIOs are getting pummeled for the perception -- right or wrong -- that they can't govern IT.
But the situation is beginning to change. CIOs are starting to embrace IT governance in a methodical way, using frameworks that provide processes to reduce the uncertainty surrounding IT so the right decisions can be made, and more importantly, technology's infrastructure can be linked to the enterprise's business aspects.
Interestingly, one of the fastest growing aspects of governance is something called the Information Technology Infrastructure Library, and it was created by a government to solve the unique problems the public sector faces. British bureaucrats grew tired of seeing different agencies configure networks, respond to incidents or manage help desks in different ways -- while the costs for each vary as well. In response, they composed a set of principles that can be reused by IT departments whether they are supporting transportation, public safety, human services or education.
The result has been a more service-oriented IT infrastructure that is less complex and -- not surprisingly -- less costly to operate. Now the British library of principles has been picked up by a growing number of U.S. organizations to change how they govern IT. In effect, the principles have helped organizations create a menu that describes to the rest of the enterprise what they offer and how much it will cost to have it delivered.
There's no question that for CIOs, writing the menu and teaching their chefs to prepare the items the same way at a set price is a difficult task, but the ones who have done it say their customers are happier and continue to come back.
You may use or reference this story with attribution and a link to
http://www.govtech.com/magazines/pcio/100560664.html
Collaborative Justice: Transforming Criminal Justice Services Through Unified Collaboration
Cloud-Based Services Accelerate Public Sector Adoption of Video Collaboration
Public CIO News In Your Inbox
Subscribe to Public CIO
Subscribe | View Digital Issue