CIO spending is not yet in alignment with the evolution to digital business, digital spending and marketing. CIOs are still focusing their money on very traditional spending, such as keeping the lights on and doors open – operational and infrastructure support. It is important for better aligned spending in this customer- focused age. The thought process and funding needs to change, as well as how companies deliver on projects.
CIOs and CFOs need new budget categories for technology and there are four forces that are pushing those limits:
- Business-led tech initiatives are outpacing new project budgets
- Business innovation requiring technology experimentation
- Business applications needing updates and enhancements to meet new demands
- Modern application development requiring more open-ended funding
One of the most important factors for success is to be able to be prepared and anticipate what is coming next.
With these new budget categories, the tech budget will be changing. In this new world, as we move over to a hybrid environment, we will require funding to be broken down differently. MOOSE will most likely drop a little, and the rest of the budget will focus on business empowered application refresh funds, outcome-based new projects, innovation fund and deliverables-based new projects. To make sure that these budgets all work together it is essential to have transparency and visibility at a portfolio level that you can get from a PPM (Project Portfolio Management) Solution. PPM will help identify, prioritize and execute the new outcome based projects.
A PPM solution helps an organization move from a traditional budgeting method to a more agile one, investing and executing more smartly. Outcome orientated projects need to be embraced, so therefore a budget cannot be locked down before. If you want to get more value from your money, you need to invest where needed and focus on customer driven outcomes.
Some facts that may be shocking to see:
- 54% of planned projects do not get delivered
- 30% of project funding never returns to the operating budget and is lost
This means that $122 million is wasted on every $1 billion spent on projects in the US.
Project portfolios are an effective way to get visibility and transparency from the strategy to the execution of the project. The most important aspect is to recognize the vision of the organization and then the goals will be made attainable. The portfolio is the roadmap that will provide the strategic themes that are needed, and it shows how projects can be delivered – utilizing resources and spending money in the most efficient manner.
Many organizations are using value streams that help with prioritization. The value stream is the end-to-end process that helps you deliver business capability such as sales/marketing, HR, finance, logistics and call center. It provides visibility into what else is going on and all the processes involved.
To learn more about managing the chaos of change with PPM as well as key takeaways, watch our on-demand webinar with Margo Visitacion, VP and Principal analyst at Forrester Research. Learn how to adapt, be responsive and focus on the change that is occurring.
A version of this post originally appeared on Info Tech Spotlight
