As a former CFO and COO in business I'm definitely not a "techie" and have absolutely no credibility saying anything "technical" about information technology. I do however, have a full appreciation of what technology can enable and the impact it can have on the success of any organization. It's large! It's huge! It's "mission critical!"The possibilities are enormous, and endless, and limited only by your imagination and your pocketbook. Then again at times, IT seems to be like a "large black hole" sucking millions into the vortex with little visible evidence of its existence.

Reality check - the times they are a changin'. Kaboom! Holy melt-down Batman! WTF? What on earth are we going to do? There's so much that needs to be done and ... we've got to do it with fewer resources and cut costs! It's clearly time for a new manifesto for Information Technology for these turbulent times. Time to get "real" perhaps with a little "uncommon IT sense" to be able to weather the storm and ultimately emerge leaner, more effective, more resilient and more profitable.

A few definitions:
 
CFO = Chief Financial Officer, controller, head "beancounter," the finance guy or lady (never, never a girl), the auditor, the spreadsheet, gatekeeper, etc., using words like ROI (return on investment), budgets, compliance, Sarbanes-Oxley, IFRS and particularly fond of ... "show me the money!"
 
IT = CIO (Chief Information Officer), CTO (Chief Technology Officer), technologists, techies, developers, geeks, etc., using words like infrastructure optimization, service-oriented architecture, virtualization, grid, enterprise 2.0, "we're here to help," "smart work for a smarter planet," " your potential, our passion," and "show me your money."
 
Clearly, there are fundamental differences in their worldviews - the "cognitive, affective, and evaluative presuppositions these groups make about the nature of things, and which they use to order their lives." (Wikipedia) Subtle differences, that make a difference.

Let's then develop a post melt-down manifesto for IT in these turbulent times. You can contribute to the conversation by adding a comment below.

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The New CFO IT Manifesto
 
IT meet your new boss. Same as your old boss but now it's crystal clear. Don't even think about spending any money unless you talk to me first and convince me that your IT projects are fully aligned with our immediate organization priorities.

From now on you can address me as "your eminence," and my people as your "valued partners" and don't even think about leaving today until my Crackberry is in sync and my people have the latest and greatest tools. Get it?

Your projects are too big and take too long. From now on I want to see more clearly defined and focused projects that move our strategic and survival priorities forward in incremental steps. Let's have more "bite-sized" initiatives that can produce results quickly to then command additional investment.
 
In the past the value we have received for our IT investment has been questionable, or at best unclear. Let's dig down deep and focus on the tangible impact we can quantify. Start thinking and documenting more of the "R" in ROI or you will be getting much less of the "I."

We have to reduce cost and take direct cost savings "to the bank," this year. Show me your forecast for the balance of the year and highlight where the savings are going to come from. And if you need a little to stimulate your thinking read this article -
Uncommon IT Sense - There is a Better Way to Save Costs and Improve Service! - http://www.refresher.com/aresbetter.html .

Let's work together to improve the "visibility" of our spending. Where are you spending the money? How much of your spend is to "keep the lights on" vs. moving forward on our critical business priorities? Let's break it down into details we can all understand. Very soon you and your teams will love the details and the numbers as much as we do.

One way we're going to cut costs is to cut back on the number of projects you have on the go. Let's review the list, prioritize, and cut back to fewer mission-critical initiatives. Let's prioritize based on what we can automate and those initiatives that are business critical and that reduce risk and increase revenue.
 
While we're on the topic of automation, let's finally get to the processes that are slow, manual, repetitive, error prone, expensive or that can reduce processing time and provide better service to our customers.

We know we need to improve business processes to simplify work and improve quality, output and productivity, and yes as part of that effort let's start with our IT processes and look to identify and eliminate duplication of effort and waste in your shop.

We want you to ensure all projects are self-funding in terms of achieving positive, measurable results significantly greater than the cost or investment. Can we say R O I again?
 
In the past our business cases have been poorly defined with intangible benefits and projects seem to always go over budget anyway. Let's stick to more focused projects with clearly articulated business results, a “tight” business case and realistic set of deliverables. Smaller and more focused projects are easier to resource, easier to understand, easier to approve, easier to obtain buy-in and commitment, and faster to complete.
 
We've been concerned with the lack of knowledge and capability of our IT internal resources for some time, and that can only get worse with cutbacks in spending. Let's get creative and expand our capability with outside services with direct subject-matter expertise on a project basis. We can accelerate our effort and minimize the risk without a long term commitment or cost, especially if the projects are "self-funding" and vital.

Please don't come back with a bunch of $5K per day consultants selling canned solutions. Try partnering with smaller firms that have the capability and range of technical expertise you require and the speed and responsiveness of a smaller organization and dedicated team.

You've been talking about infrastructure optimization and virtualization for some time. Let's get some SMEegles in to take a look and get it done. We all know there's money there to be saved.

While we're at it let's cut of the jargon and get better at developing a shared understanding of what you're talking about. Let's spell out the acronyms and explain what they mean. Draw more pictures. Add more numbers. Forget about "users."We don't do drugs. We are your clients. Is BI a sexual orientation? And forget about "scope creep" or we'll call you creeps . Also, do we really have "server farms?" Does that mean we're growing "servers?" Hummm.

Let's talk about flexibility and "agility" and that should mean something like the ability to respond to new priorities and circumstances. With 80% or more of your costs fixed how can we get creative and more "agile?" Can anyone say "outsourcing?" And not necessarily offshore. Time to take a look at all options, especially for our non-core functions.

While we're looking to do more with less, modernize, standardize, automate and increase self-service, don't forget about the need for improved consistency and audit trails for compliance. Say the word again slowly and more clearly ...
c o m p l i a n c e ... it's a word you need to know and appreciate.

Also keep top-of-mind that we need an increased use of information and analytics and to improve our reporting and analysis. Let's think about intelligent Business Intelligence.

Furthermore we need to serve our customers more effectively, improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, attract and retain new customers - think high tech and high touch customer service.

Show me the money
... to be continued ...

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Challenging times call for creative approaches and perhaps a little "uncommon" sense to be ready to respond to the opportunities ahead! Information Technology is a vital enabler of organization performance, and enterprises whose CFOs, CIOs, and CTOs collaborate on a more strategic and mindful approach to their IT investments today will ultimately emerge more responsive, robust, resilient, productive and profitable.
 
Your comments, experiences, ideas are thoughts are welcomed and encouraged. You can remain anonymous if you wish, or take the opportunity to highlight your personal and enterprise successes and creativity. Comments will be added to further develop the manifesto as a community effort.

Here are links to two additional articles in the Uncommon IT Sense series:

Uncommon IT Sense for Turbulent Times
With Insights from Chaotics by Philp Kotler and John Caslione - http://www.refresher.com/aresquick.html 

Uncommon IT Sense - There is a Better Way to Save Costs and Improve Service! - http://www.refresher.com/aresbetter.html

Thank you for your interest and best wishes for success in these turbulent times. 

P.S. Consider partnering with T4G Limited, experts in the intelligent application of technology.
 
About T4G Limited
 
T4G Limited is a project-based, end-to-end technology services organization that has deep experience with high-impact critical business solutions. T4G Limited has experience in all areas of information delivery and has earned five Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner competencies. T4G has an impressive roster of talented and creative people who share a passion for emerging technologies and a commitment to client service. T4G has also been cited as one of the Best Workplaces in Canada for the second year is a row.

For additional information please visit www.t4g.com/ or email rick.sidorowicz@T4G.com