Benefits Management: Delivering Value from IS and IT Investments (John Wiley Series in Information Systems) - Tapa dura

This book considers the topic of achieving value from IT from both theoretical and practical perspectives. It is based on extensive research which produced a comprehensive understanding and analysis of the issues involved and innovative new approaches that addressed those issues plus considerable practical application, in a wide range of organisations of the ideas, processes, tools and techniques that were developed. The book describes how IS/IT investments can be aligned accurately with organisational strategy and how the approach and 'tool kit' can be used by business managers and IS/IT specialists to identify the benefits available from different types of investments in a variety of organisational contexts. It describes how business cases can be developed that enable the benefits to be planned for and then realised through techniques and processes that overcome the organisational barriers that often prevent successful implementation.It also considers the strengths and limitations of existing methods, and shows how the approach can be integrated with best practice in the areas of project and change programme management. The book concludes by explaining how the key concepts in the approach have been extended and adapted to improve strategy development and decision making as well as an organisation's ability to implement its strategy successfully.

The successful management of investments in information systems (IS) and information technology (IT) continues to be a challenge to most organisations. Studies repeatedly show that the majority of projects, even if they are implemented on-time and on-budget, are still judged to be unsuccessful - as they do not yield the benefits that the organisation was expecting.

This book explores the causes for lack of benefit delivery and the reasons why new approaches to the management of IS/IT investments are needed. It then presents a comprehensive process, including a set of tools and frameworks that many organisations are using to increase the benefits realised from their investments. The approach enables business and IS/IT professionals to combine their collective knowledge, in order to develop integrated benefit delivery and change management plans, including realistic and achievable business cases. It demonstrates how these benefits plans can be used to improve the evaluation and implementation of investments and hence increase the ability of organisations of all types to obtain greater value from the use of IS/IT.

Written in the same practical, straightforward way as John Ward’s previous highly successful book, Strategic Planning for Information Systems (also in this series), Benefits Management: Delivering Value from IS and IT Investments will prove valuable and informative to business managers and IS/IT professionals as well as academics and students.