Upcoming Events

Cloud Connect
Santa Clara
Feb 13-16, 2012

Cloud Connect brings together the entire cloud eco-system to better understand the transformation we're experiencing and promises to be the defining event of the cloud computing industry. Learn about the latest cloud technologies and platforms from thought leaders in Cloud Connect’s comprehensive conference.

Register Now!

F E A T U R E

The Business Case

December 15, 2002
By David Joachim

>> continued from previous page

No One-Size-Fits-All

	Issue TOC
	Print full article
	Print this page
	Download as PDF
	E-Mail this URL
	Flame the author

	In this article
	Introduction
	No One-Size-Fits-All

Vendor-Supplied ROI

Pros: Easy and inexpensive method to justify IT purchases.

Cons: Figures are "averaged" and may not reflect returns for an organization like yours; positive returns often inflated.

Internally Generated ROI

Pros: Forces you to justify IT purchases with hard numbers tailored to your type of business; forces IT and business units to collaborate; bridges communication gap with financial management.

Cons: Organizational pressure and lack of business expertise often produce unrealistic numbers; analysis is performed early in the life of a project, when little is known about returns; numbers are seldom revisited after project goes live; difficult to apply to knowledge-based businesses.

Investment-Portfolio ROI

Pros: Encourages periodic re-examination of assumptions and results; rewards experimentation; requires collaboration among IT, finance and business units, fostering accountability.

Cons: Can become burdensome if reviews occur too often; still difficult to apply to knowledge-based businesses.