Marketing the value of IT

There is no doubt in anybody’s mind that businesses need to be told about the value that IT brings. How best to go about this, however, is open to debate. One way of going about it is similar to how the IT leaders at Intel and CA articulate the value of their departments. They bring out an annual report for IT from the chief information office.

Value Addition of IT: These reports include various details, chief among which is accounting for the budgets allocated and investments made. It’s an idea that finds resonance with S. Srinivasan, Sr. GM-Business Strategy and Systems, TVS Sundaram Fasteners, but he adds that a mere expense sheet is not enough. “A comparative performance analysis both internal and external maybe of greater interest rather than merely an in-house performance review,” he says. “A key data point could be the percentage of IT spend compared to the competition. If it is low, then one definitely stands to gain favor with the other senior executives.”
The value addition that can be brought about by a report is strongly supported by Gopal Rangaraj, VP-IT at Reliance Life Sciences. “A report should focus more on the value addition that IT brings to the organization rather than just giving a list of expenditures and details on where money is spent,” he says. This should be backed by feedback from senior management and end users to establish credibility, he says. Also, a clear understanding of the benchmarks and industry trends is a must along with a clear view of the competition’s progress.
Not everyone agrees that even if IT leaders could get the numbers needed for such a report, that it would be received well. Ravishankar Subramaniam, director-IT, ING Life, for example, unequivocally states that it is difficult. “Numbers are viewed skeptically and hence one needs to have robust systems in the back-end which will stand up to scrutiny. Computing the tangible benefits derived out of IT is also not so easy. Explaining these can be even more difficult,” he says. Keshav Samant, VP & head-IT, Financial Technologies, seconds that point of view. “The CMO and CFO know their numbers much better than a CIO. So it is better to present the value that IT provides in a simple and easily understandable language rather than trying to impress them with calculations. Simple stories that convey the model are the need of the hour.”

The Marketing CIO: Some even feel that such an attempt falls outside the general purview of IT. “CIOs generally lack the marketing and presentation skills hence it is advisable to outsource these to professionals who are good at it. Moreover, a third-party view of IT’s affairs will be considered impartial and more likely to get greater acceptance. Honestly, when I get into my office and am handed my to-do list, report generation and selling IT to the senior management takes a back seat,” says V. Balakrishnan, CIO, Polaris Software Lab.
That said, the general consensus among CIOs is that an annual report is a good idea and if generated with quality, it could serve to showcase transparency and enable easier access to funds. CIOs would however need to budget for a comprehensive — but not expansive — report at the very start.