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Business-IT Excellence Model
(This particular Business-IT Excellence Model could depict any type of service organization; however we now concentrate on IT organization)
Serving Business
Everything, even in IT, is ultimately about the business; how to better serve the business. Business creates requirements for IT, which become services that IT supplies back to business. This is the value chain that justifies IT’s existence.
Demands come in all the time and the challenge is to make sure you are able to prioritize, which ones are the most critical and best further the company’s main goals. The demands or projects should be evaluated based on more than just cost. You need to know what your resource situation is; do you have enough people, skills, and budget. But most importantly you need to be able to evaluate the different projects based on how well they improve the overall business process. Which one would yield the best results and is the most critical for the business. This is the first loop, and it is how IT supports and serves business.
Controlling Operations
The second loop describes how IT produces the services. They need resources such as: money, people, tools, infrastructure, applications, equipment, other assets, contracts, etc. With those resources IT is able to run operations to deliver the services. These operations could include the help desk processes, procurement, change, etc. The first loop covers the strategic side of IT while this loop concentrates on the tactical or operational aspects of IT.
Controlling Suppliers
To help IT provide the services they have outside suppliers, if for nothing else, at least the equipment is purchased from someone else. So the suppliers can either provide resources (infrastructure, equipment, even people) or contribute to the operations by handling a process such as, support and maintenance functions (e.g. help desk).
Control the Future
Once there is clear visibility to all the three parts of the picture, you know exactly where you are, what you are able to offer, and where you can go. IT can estimate and plan more accurately. And best of all, business knows how much IT contributes to the overall success of the company.
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