09:30    What is the Problem?

The Y2K and dot.com eras have left many executives in doubt about whether expenditure on IT generates any value and the result has been a downward pressure on IT budgets. However, there is a limit to how far costs can be reduced before the business is damaged. The focus now needs to change to ensuring expenditure on IT does deliver value to the organisation.  

	Enormous Expenditures on IT
	Executive Perceptions
	So much more that IT can offer

10:10    The Nature and Origin of Value

But exactly what do we mean by value? There is great confusion between benefits and value which must be clarified so that business functions and IT functions can communicate with each other in a common language. That dialogue needs to be structured and compatible with IT’s financial objectives.

	What is “Value”?
	Terminology & Definitions
	Financial Objectives for IT

10:50    Coffee Break

11:10   IT Governance & Business Cases

There has been much talk about IT Governance but what is its purpose? Without some sort of measure how will organisations know whether they are doing it well or badly? IT Governance needs to encompass not just the selection and approval of IT expenditures but, critically, who has which roles in creating value from IT.  

	The Purpose of IT Governance
	Preparation of Business Cases
	Roles & Responsibilities

11:50   Projects & Programmes

Too frequently projects are assessed by whether they are on-time, to budget and specification, but even so they might not be leading to value creation. Wider measures are needed. Projects also interact with each other, through programmes, which can significantly reduce or enhance the value to be created. 

	Their Real Purpose
	The Economic Role of the IT Function
	Measuring Success

12:30   Lunch Break

13:30   Service Delivery  

No value can be created from IT unless the business can rely on the on-going delivery of IT services. Too often, however, perfection is sought which might be unaffordable by the business. Many of the costs of service delivery are set well before the services are up and running which has a significant effect on the extent of their controllability.  

	Business Dependency
	The Balance between Volumes, Costs & Quality
	The Controllability of Costs

14:10   Benefits & Value Realisation

Benefits realisation does not necessarily lead to value creation; just as increases in sales do not necessarily lead to greater profits. There are outgoings to consider. Who is to be held responsible for ensuring the organisation as a whole secures value from IT, especially as the world is changing around us all the time and what is seen as a benefit today will be seen as yet another cost tomorrow?           

	Ring-fencing Benefits
	Transitory Nature of Benefits
	Realising Value NOT JUST Benefits

14: 50   Coffee Break

15:10   Controls, Systems & Tools

Few IT functions have comprehensive information systems by which they manage themselves. Charge-out has become discredited yet it is an essential part of the feedback loop to determine whether value will be or has been created from IT expenditure. What information and tools are needed to address these short comings?

	Accountabilities & Charge-out
	Information Requirements
	Simplifying the Management Tasks

15:50 – 16:30    The Roles of Outsourcers & Other Suppliers

Most IT functions now rely on the services of outsourcers and other suppliers. They too have key roles to play in value creation. To date the focus has often been on reducing costs and improving quality whereas in the future it needs to be on innovation and flexibility if outsourcers are to contribute to value creation for their customers.  

	The Economics of Outsourcing
	Resourcing Flexibility
	Optimising their Use

16:30   Implementing Value Management  

The implementation of effective value management requires a properly established programme of work, with high-level sponsorship, new policies and roles defined and a phased series of carefully sequenced activities to bring about the required changes throughout the organisation – not just in the IT Function.

	Sponsorship
	Policies
	Practices

17:10   Summary & Close

Presenters

Chris Tiernan FIMIS  

Chris is Chair of Council of the Institute for the Management of Information Systems (IMIS). IMIS is a charity which organises and runs training programmes leading to diplomas and higher diplomas which promote the highest professional standards in the creation, operation, management and use of information systems. Chris is also a founder and Managing Director of Grosvenor Consultancy Services where he has spent the past 15 years helping organisations secure best value from IT. Chris has been working with Cranfield School of Management on research into value creation from IT and has written extensively on the subject. c.tiernan@grosvenorconsultancy.com

Carolyn Jacks MBA 

Carolyn is a director and co-founder of Grosvenor Consultancy Services which assists organisations in the private and public sectors establish and manage commercial relationships with outsourcers and other suppliers. Her particular specialism is in assisting clients to secure not just benefits but real value from entering into, renegotiating, retendering and even bringing such services back in-house. She has advised on transactions worth from just a few hundred thousand pounds to those worth billions; both on-shore and off-shore. She has also been participating in the Cranfield project. c.jacks@grosvenorconsultancy.com