SMART IT Governance

There is a tremendous amount of pressure on IT leadership teams today to minimize spending, outsource to cut costs, extend asset lives and reduce head count. At the same time, they are expected to execute IT investments that enhance security and reliability while driving enterprise efficiency and effectiveness. Now, more than ever, the IT leadership team must ensure that an effective, well-conceived IT governance mechanism is in place to provide coherent, disciplined oversight of IT investment decisions. The need for IT governance will be even greater as we move forward, as pressure builds for new investments and initiatives, as well as for heightened service levels driven by increased business activity.

Customers are asking tough questions about IT governance. How can the IS organization align business priorities with IT investment priorities? How should the business units establish service levels in-line with enterprise standards and technical architectures? How should senior management evaluate new technologies and decide how to fund the adoption of technologies that enhance enterprise value? What is the role of the Project Management Office in the governance process? How should IT governance align with enterprise culture? How should IT governance be changed to align with more dynamic, adaptive and agile organizational models such as the virtual matrix structures that increasingly typify global enterprises?

What Is IT Governance?

IT governance specifies the decision-making authority and accountability to encourage desirable behaviors in the use of IT. IT Governance provides a framework in which the decisions made about IT issues are aligned with the overall business strategy and culture of the enterprise. Governance is about decision-making per se — not about how the actions resulting from decisions are executed. Governance is concerned with setting directions, establishing standards and principles, and prioritizing investments; management is concerned with execution. In this IT Management Spotlight, we explore a variety of issues that our clients confront when trying to implement effective governance processes.

What is SMART EPM for IT Governance?

SMART EPM for IT Governance helps organizations align business priorities with IT investment priorities and by providing a complete EPM solution that helps managers successfully manage and track programs from Demand Management to Product and Service Delivery. From scope changes, risk, issues, resources, to schedules and costs, consistent processes enable on-time and within budget management of even the most complex projects. As an integrated solution with any one of the SMART EPM suite of management modules, which include Demand Management, Portfolio Management, Project Management, Operational Management, Collaboration Management and Business Intelligence, organizations gain a competitive edge by making decisions based on accurate and timely data and analysis.

SMART EPM is an award winning solution that enables organizations to fully configure their Microsoft EPM Solution in less time and cost, virtually risk free. SMART EPMâ„¢ for IT Governance provides a preconfigured Microsoft Office System solution that is the framework for Microsoft EPM for IT Governance. These preconfigured Microsoft Office solutions save the significant cost of arduous requirement gathering, system design and software configuration that is required for traditional Microsoft EPM deployments and provides several value-add features that specifically support IT Governance work management ecosystem.

Why re-invent the wheel?

Leverage LMR Solutions™ knowledge of IT Governance best practices, tool experience, and proven methodology and process knowledge from hundreds of EPM deployments, SMART EPM utilizes a process-driven approach unlocking the power of Microsoft Office Systems. SMART EPM for IT Governance provides preconfigured Microsoft Office and Visual Studios system solutions designed to provide processes and built-in analytics for IT Governance.

SMART EPM enables IT organizations to meet the increasingly tougher challenge to not only fulfill their traditional responsibilities but rapidly adjust to changing conditions. SMART EPM enables organizations to:

With a single source of your entire portfolio, SMART EPM for IT Governance automates the whole lifecycle of portfolio contents from proposing, evaluating, optimizing and governing investments. Analysis begins with capturing all the competing sources of demand to determine a baseline inventory. An effective portfolio evaluation requires more than just project management roll-up and compilation. SMART EPM for IT Governance offers robust analysis with out-of-the-box metrics such as value to the business, true cost, risk, alignment with enterprise strategy, customer satisfaction and overall health. Portfolio analysis capabilities reveal areas for improvement such as investments that are low value, duplicate or unhealthy. Reallocation of resources away from poor investments to high value investments is then possible. Balancing the portfolio follows by checking key business objectives and distribution goals. Finally, the return on investment is calculated based upon spending cuts and reallocated resources to efforts better aligned with enterprise goals.