Looking for a way to address budget, resource capacity, and project execution through your Project and Portfolio Management (PPM) platform? If you want to build business agility in an increasingly complex marketplace, IT Financial Management (ITFM) is your best friend. The two go hand-in-hand—we’ll show you how.
The Complexity of Business Management
Today, digital business enablers are driving complexity in the marketplace. Vendors are moving from tactical to strategic initiatives, the Cloud is replacing on-premise software for apps and infrastructure, and Agile systems continue to improve product and project delivery.
You might have noticed that Waterfall delivery systems no longer dominate the workplace, and many organizations are beginning to see the benefits of incorporating Agile and hybrid methodologies. This shift improves time-to-market, productivity, and business value.
IT development is more efficient. ROI improves.
It’s clear that companies have to become leaner in order to modernize their applications and infrastructure, and while these enablers provide strategic benefits, they also add complexity for the technology leaders who run the business.
We often use Apptio’s Agile Financial Management tool to receive digital workflows that assist with transformation. Apptio can improve delivery and yield faster services enterprise-wide.
Understand What You’re Up Against
CIOs and IT Finance both want to get a handle on project spend and how much it takes to run the business. They need to understand the cost of Cloud services, Agile delivery, projects, and vendors.
Typically, CIOs ask PMOs to interpret whether Change the Business work can be delivered based on current resource capacity. PMOs traditionally use tools designed for delivery, execution, and portfolio management, including PPM tools, data extracts, and spreadsheets. They help the CIOs understand cost and resource capacity for Change the Business and Run the Business work.
IT Finance and department managers control headcount and operational budgets through spreadsheets. Frequently, they try to leverage PPM tools to help with operational budgets. This can drive significant configuration and reporting requirements for the tool that can lead to excessive complexity and struggles with adoption for the PMO.
Whether the project is Agile, Waterfall, or hybrid, PPM tools struggle to address investment and operational budgets. The PPM tools are not to blame—they’re just the wrong suite of tools for answering all the CIOs questions.
Develop a Game Plan
So, how do PPM and IT Business Management (ITBM) tools fit together to solve these problems and provide the right information for CIOs and IT Finance? We ask ourselves some key questions to determine situational strategies.
- How do we plan and manage Run the Business spend (Operational Budget)?
- How do we plan and manage Change the Business spend (Investment/Project Budget)?
- What capacity does our organization have to deliver? Do we have the resources for both Run the Business and Change the Business work?
- How is our Change the Business spend progressing, and is it forecasted to be on-time and on-budget?
It’s important to implement processes and tools that improve the planning and management of the Operational Budget and the Investment Budget. To mature capabilities, we also need a good understanding of resource capacity and project execution.
5 Ways to Implement IT Financial Mgmt (ITFM)
- Holistically Address Changes. In order to reach our goal of integrating ITFM, we should examine the maturation of people, processes, systems, and data.
- Assess and mature the processes in transition. We include our funding process, cost tracking, labor capitalization, and investment governance. We also look at business cases that focus on an entire project rather than continuous development.
- Understand the intersection of ITFM and PMO processes and tools. We focus on our PMO’s mission when we implement tools. We add resource management for approved Change the Business work and project execution.
- Implement ITFM tools like Apptio’s Financial Management Foundation suite. This helps us concentrate on the Office of the CIO’s mission. We plan and manage operational and investment budgets in one tool—manage headcount, contracts, and assets—and perform IT planning and financial reporting.
- Focus on the Organizational Change Agenda. Our CIO and Senior IT Leaders champion the changes, drive automation of non-value activities, and provide valuable insights, planning, and delivery activities.
Let Rego Be Your Guide
Rego can assist you in delivering a capability that provides a holistic view of your IT spend across both operating and investment budgets. We’ll show you fixed vs. variable spend breakdowns, direct and indirect spend, and discretionary vs. non-discretionary spend, so you can analyze tradeoffs and see the impact over multiple years.
Standard Client Requests
- Technology Business Management (TBM) Strategy & Business Case
- TBM Governance/Operating Model
- TBM Process Definition/Maturity
- Organizational Change Management (OCM) Services
- ITFM and PPM Tool Selection and Implementation
- TBM/ITFM Tool Deployment
Rego can also help you deploy a PPM or modern work management system–like Clarity PPM, ServiceNow, Sciforma, or Workfront–to manage resources and project execution with an ITFM tool like Apptio.
About the Author: Rego Consulting
