Real Business of IT: How CIOs Create and Communicate Business Value

by George Westerman and Richard Hunter

If you're a general manager or CFO, do you feel you're spending too much on IT or wishing you could get better returns from your IT investments? If so, it's time to examine what's behind this IT-as-cost mind-set. In The Real Business of IT, Richard Hunter and George Westerman reveal that the cost mind-set stems from IT leaders' inability to communicate about the business value they create-so CIOs get stuck discussing budgets rather than their contributions...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1422147614
• ISBN13: 9781422147610
• Release Date: October 2009
• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The Real Business of IT Exposed

Gartner nailed this one. This book focuses on what is really important when running an IT organization. No wasted time talking about team building, SOA, or any other buzzwords of the day. It is all about driving business value, and doing the salesmenship required in the world of IT.

Fundamental truth about IT and IT Governance

This book explains the real world of IT. It shows the reasons for the generalized discontent with IT that afflicts most companies. More, it shows how to turn around the IT department and create a productive relationship with all other areas. It shows how to turn IT into a valuable asset, a prime mover, a fundamental tool for the evolution and growth of the company. A very important reading for all IT executives, and also for the Non IT executives. In a short sentence: it shows the true meaning of a good IT Governance.

Best IT book I ever read

How do we fix IT's problems? Well, Hunter and Westerman gave us the answer: pick up more work! Yes, and it actually does make sense. Be responsible for MORE things and your success rate will increase. This book is about how to really deliver value from IT. It is based on changing IT's mindset. You've probably read much on this topic before, but this book sums it all up and more. And it does have suggestions that can be readily applied. Every manager in IT should read this book!

A real value to IT executives

What is the business value of IT? This is a perennial question that dominates executive discussions. Many have sought to answer this question with fancy algorithms, consulting practices, benchmark data and other tools. However, the question is basic to IT so it should have a basic answer - right? Absolutley and fortunately Hunter and Westerman provide much of the answer in this book. The Real Business of IT is a clear and focused look at the issue of IT value and the approaches to capture, communicate and increase that value. This book is unique in several respects. It is a book written for CIOs largely based on the experience of CIOs. The book features extended practices from leading companies like McKesson, Intel, Freescale, Deltak and many others. Building on those sources, Hunter and Westerman explain a simple virtuous cycle for driving IT value. They illustrate this cycle with about a dozen concepts that CIOs can use tomorrow to change the way they talk about value. Hunter and Westerman make good use of these resources creating a book that is filled accessible information. One of the ways they do this is through using analogies from outside of IT. This not only makes the ideas easy to understand but also it gives the CIOs stories that they can use to inform and educate their business peers about IT. This book helps CIOs avoid common value traps that limit the view of IT's value in the enterprise. It then goes on to build the tools and techniques to demonstrate the value for money in IT, how IT helps run, grow and transform the enterprise, manage IT's unit costs, and other key concepts. The book is tuned and intended for CIOs and IT executives, rather than business executives. This is not to say business executives should not read this book, its just that it is not written for them. By focusing on CIOs, the authors avoid much of the complexity found in other books. This should be taken as a strength since that focus enables the authors to clearly provide practices and tools that CIOs can use. The business value of IT sits in the conversations within your enterprise not in compliance with some industry standard. Therefore, I would suggest that CIOs use this book with their teams to build that conversation, in their terms and their situation. This book is highly recommended for CIOs and IT executives all of whom will face the need to answer questions about the value of IT. In this book, CIOs will learn directly from the authors as well as the insights of leading CIOs and their examples. This is a powerful combination that makes the investment in The Real Business of IT a good value. Strengths Anchoring IT value solidly in terms of business performance. This is critical to establishing a clear and unequival way of measuring the value of IT. Actionable and practical advise that comes directly from CIO experience. Contains positive and negative examples on the business value of IT Clearly illustrated tables and