CXO Advisor Approach
We have developed an approach to all our IT Service Management offerings- both Advisory and IT practice, that supports our view that IT management needs to be more business facing than technology centric. This view applies to all businesses - technology's value lies in its application, not in itself.
In support of this view, we have over the past five years, developed our IT Management 3Role Model™ framework. The framework starts from the simple contention that IT has 3 roles that the business expects IT to play;
Role 1. “Deliver IT without fuss” – that is, IT must simply work efficiently for the business, once operational. This role requires IT management to institute standards, policies and processes that support this outcome.
Role 2. “Get involved in the business, to improve the results of the business” - that is, proactively work with line management to help them to be more profitable. This requires IT management to understand the business they are in and act in a consultative manner to the business.
Role 3. “Give us good leadership” – this means that IT has a leadership role to play in the business, to assist with developing future business strategies supported by technology.
In addition we have developed the concept that all businesses have a certain Business momentum that can be measured based on their;
- Mass = staff, branches, geography etc.
- Speed = how fast and how dependent on continuity
- Direction = vision, mission, objectives
Using the Business momentum line we are able to categorise IT activities into those that support the Business Momentum, and those that add value to the business momentum.
Using these easily understood concepts we have developed a comprehensive framework to assist our clients solve some of the most complex issues facing IT management today.
- What should we expect from our IT Management?
- How much should we be spending IT - what is IT’s value?
- How do we meet our Boards King 3 IT responsibilities- how do we communicate to the board, how do we measure IT?
- What is our IT Value chain and how do we organize our IT structures to support it?
- How do we analyse our IT spend as a decision support tool. How do we forecast IT spend
- What sort of skills do we need to manage IT?
- How do we improve our IT Maturity?
The 3 Role Model™ framework has been applied by CXO Advisor to both large and small South African businesses with great success. It has helped bridge the divide between Business managers and IT management, and has lead to more productive understanding and decision making in those companies.
To understand more about the 3Role Model™ see our short video’s we have developed on the subject or read our Research Director, Terry White’s book- “ What Business Wants from IT”. Both are available on or through this website.
