Importance of Process Management

Because of continuing cuts, many IT organizations are now staffed at maintenance levels. They can no longer throttle their
contribution to the balance sheet by eliminating consultants or reducing head count. However, corporate management continues
to put pressure on IT to provide additional value. In an effort to meet this and other requirements many IT organizations are
seeking new management strategies.
One area that has caught the attention of many IT organizations is the development and execution of an IT process management
improvement strategy. Although, to date, only a small percentage of IT organizations have actually executed a formal IT process
improvement initiative, those that have succeeded in this area are receiving noticeable and real dividends. By increasing the
effectiveness of their internal IT processes, many of these organizations have improved their adaptability to changing business
requirements and have developed IT performance measurements that reflect the alignment of technology with business needs.
Other benefits have included improved customer relationships, additional staff bandwidth, and lower overall cost of ownership.
Because of the value shown, a growing number of IT organizations are exploring how to develop and execute an IT process
improvement program. However, for a variety of reasons many have simply not been able to address this issue. Some of the most
often cited factors include not having the time, resources, or the skilled personnel to commit to developing a comprehensive IT
process management program. And, of course, the budget tightening that has continued over the past few years has forced many IT
organizations to focus on other initiatives. IT budgets are increasing, but the history of a high degree of IT failures and seemingly
unchecked spending of the late 1990s has had its affect.
So, where does that leave the IT organization that would like to develop and execute an IT process improvement program? The
answer is to gain a deeper understanding of the value of an IT process improvement program, and to then build the business case
that illustrates that value to the business. With the affects on IT of current federal regulation, IT audits and other business drivers,
IT management can easily make the case that this truly is an essential initiative that must be undertaken. Given these recent
factors alone it should be easy for many IT executives to present the business case for an IT process improvement initiative that
clearly illustrates how it will enhance the growth and prosperity of the business.
Over Measured and Under Processed
In today’s fast moving and global IT organization, processes are often severely masked by software and systems tools. The
extensive use of automated tools to manage the IT environment has created organizations that over measure the performance of
tools rather than the process the tools support. This has lead us to coin the phrase IT organizations are "over measured and under
processed." The reason this state exists is that many technologists have come to the false conclusion that "the tool is the process."
IT organizations and technologists that fall into this category can be recognized by the number of tools they have but only partially
use or, in some cases, don’t use at all. This can also be characteristic of IT organizations that purchase tools for internal processes
such as change management, project management, help desk support, etc., without ever developing the process methodology for
these IT disciplines. Thus, buying tools based on the products generic requirements and process methodology or, even worse,
reengineering their internal processes and activities to fit the specifications of the tool. Talk about the tail wagging the dog!
This is often due to the fact that the underlying IT discipline's processes and activities and their associated value is not understood.
However, the real problem lies even deeper than this. It has been our experience that most IT managers have a solid understanding
of the technology tools that are used to oversee the environment and deliver the required products and services to its constituency.
When asked about the underlying processes of IT disciplines most of these managers will evade any meaningful dialogue about the
process or relating measurements. Furthermore, these managers will provide fuzzy information regarding the activities required
by IT staff members to support the process, as well as the time required to complete the activities.
To state this in another way, most IT organizations do a very good job of measuring and/or tracking certain aspects of the IT
environment, such as database transactions, network uptime, trouble tickets, change requests, and so on. What is missing is the
capability to provide the end-to-end measurement and reporting of the IT organization’s transformational processes that govern
these and other important process activities.
Understanding IT Business Processes
Traditionally, unlike other business units, IT organizations have not employed the depth of engineering principles required to
effectively measure and benchmark their internal processes that support "business" processes. In contrast, other business units
such as accounting or manufacturing spend a significant amount of time and effort measuring the effectiveness and the business
value of their processes.
What is often misunderstood by IT management is there are numerous processes that are required to effectively manage the
typical technology organization. These include processes to manage customer-facing functions, internal department support,
finance, procurement, and asset management—just to name a few of the more obvious ones. The issue is not whether IT has
"business" processes, the concern is how they manage and measure the effectiveness of these processes and the value to the
business.
Recently, CEI co-hosted a web seminar, attended by over 75 technology leaders, on the topic of the importance that IT process
architecture plays in developing an adaptive and agile IT organization. An interactive, online poll of the audience was taken
regarding the effectiveness of IT process management. The seminar participants were asked the following question: "How effective
is your IT process management strategy?" The results of that poll are shown in Figure 1.
It would have been interesting to see the polling results had we asked the question in another way: "How many of you have an IT
process management strategy?" It is fair to say that most of the attendees that felt their strategy was ineffective would have
probably stated their organizations haven’t developed any real strategy for IT process improvement or management at all.
Maintaining a Competitive Advantage
During the past few years leading edge IT organizations have come to realize that investments in process improvement will result
in a better focus on key IT activities with greater payback. IT organizations that manage their performance and contributions to the
business’ bottom line through effectively developed and managed processes, excel in the dynamic and global environment of the
future.
IT organizations that have already achieved success in this area are typically better positioned to support the needs of the business,
lower costs, and have a positive impact on revenues. Almost without exception, these IT organizations have a well defined set of
objectives and, in particular, focused service levels and priorities. Another common attribute these IT organizations share is a
much more formalized process architecture that serves as the foundation for developing an overall IT process improvement and
management program.
It is the concentration on the development of a process-driven architecture that serves as the cornerstone for an IT process
improvement program that delivers on business objectives, priorities, and mission. This is a new, important, and possibly
revolutionary perspective for building a more adaptive and agile IT organization. As best practices in IT process management are
tested, proven, and implemented, key components of this program will include building a comprehensive IT process architecture
and an ongoing process improvement program.