Management Questions

• What is the immediate, short-term goal of your website?
• What specific action do you want visitors to take?
• What are your specific objectives for the long term?
• Who do you want to visit your site?
• What solutions or benefits can you offer to these visitors?
• What data should your site provide to achieve your primary goal?
• What information can you provide to encourage them to act right now?
• What questions do you get asked the most on the telephone?
• What questions and comments do you hear most at trade shows?
• What data should your site provide to achieve your secondary goal?
• Where does your target audience look for information?

Source:
The Two Worlds of Marketing
by Jay Conrad Levinson
Guerrilla Marketing

114No Comments »http://www.mgmtquestions.com/2007/07/21/key-website-questions/Key+Website+Questions2007-07-21+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / Website Questions

1. Whom am I trying to persuade?
2. What am I trying to persuade this person to do?
3. What information does this person need so he or she is persuaded to take this action?

Source:
An Outsider’s Perspective on Your Web Site
GrokDotCom, Volume 121: 12/1/05

113No Comments »http://www.mgmtquestions.com/2007/07/20/3-key-questions-to-ask-for-every-web-page/3+Key+Questions+to+Ask+for+Every+Web+Page2007-07-20+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / Website Questions

• How often do IT projects fail to deliver what was expected?
• Are end users surveyed about the quality of the IT service and, if so, what were their responses?
• Is IT regarded as an enabler or as an inhibitor of change?
• Are sufficient IT resources, infrastructure and competencies available to meet strategic objectives?
• What has been the average overrun of IT operational budgets? How often and by how much do IT projects go over budget? How does this impact the achieved vs. expected ROI?
• Do IT-related investments meet the ROI criteria of the enterprise?
• How much of the IT effort goes towards systems maintenance and fire fighting, and how much to enabling business improvements? Is the ratio acceptable and representative for your industry?

Source:
Performance Improvement – A Classic Checklist
by Rick Sidorowicz
The CEO Refresher

112No Comments »http://www.mgmtquestions.com/2007/07/19/uncovering-it-issues/Uncovering+IT+Issues2007-07-19+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / IT Questions

• How does this proposed project help the organization achieve its objectives? Why should we invest in this? An IT project should either add value or reduce risk.
• Is the project’s objective measurable? If it isn’t, how will you know that the project is done and/or successful?
• Who was involved with creating the proposed solution? Did the project team involve the right people to truly create a solution?
• Is this project dependent on any other projects? What risks are associated with this dependency and how will the team manage them? Sometimes a hidden dependency can doom a project before it has even started.
• Did finance review the money side? Do they approve of the project?
• What are the risks associated with this project? Any project carries with it some degree of risk. Did the project team formally consider all of the risks and come up with mitigating controls in alignment with the organization’s risk appetite?
• What if this project fails? This key question should be part of the above-mentioned risk management plan. Should this project fail, will the firm be none-the-worse-for-wear, worse off, better off, or some combination thereof?
• Who reviewed the technical aspects of the proposal for issues like standardization, capacity and database design? Did they approve? The goal is to avoid surprises, such as finding out that a project in one area requires resources that are constrained in another.
• Who reviewed the process aspects? Did they approve? For a successful outcome, any project must assess the impacts not just on technology, but also on people and processes. Can the organization support any changes?
• Who reviewed the human, or HR, aspects? Did they approve? Again, successful projects rely on people, processes and technology. Can the people support the project? Do they have the right skills? Will there be a political impediment?
• Who reviewed the project plan? At the heart of all this is sound project management. A formal plan should exist following a methodology approved by the organization.
• Who reviewed the IT security aspects? All too often, security is brought in at the end of the project. IT security should be involved from the start to identify any risks that need to be addressed.
• Did the sponsor and stakeholders formally approve the project? For the sake of accountability, require that the project sponsor and stakeholders sign off on the project. This is to ensure that the objectives, requirements, risks and expenses are clearly understood. This is done to avoid the useless blame-game that happens when problems arise. It also will send a clear message that proper planning, communication and demonstrable results are mandatory.

Source:
Learning to Ask IT the Right Questions
by George Spafford
BetterManagement.com

111No Comments »http://www.mgmtquestions.com/2007/07/18/reviewing-proposals-from-project-teams/Reviewing+Proposals+from+Project+Teams2007-07-18+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / IT Questions

• Organizing model. Should the company adopt a centralized, decentralized or hybrid approach?
• Investment. What should the company invest in, and how much should it invest?
• Architecture. Should the company emphasize stability or flexibility? To what degree? Should applications be externally purchased or internally developed? Should there be a single, comprehensive ERP application, or multiple applications?
• Standards. Which components of technology should the organization standardize, and which standards should it adopt?
• Resources. What types of resources should the IT organization utilize, and what should be the sourcing of those resources?

Source:
Is There a Smarter Way to Approach IT Governance?
by Richard M. Melnicoff
Outlook Journal, February 2005

110No Comments »http://www.mgmtquestions.com/2007/07/17/it-governance-questions/IT+Governance+Questions2007-07-17+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / IT Questions

Questions to Ask to Uncover IT Issues

• How often do IT projects fail to deliver what they promised?
• Are end users satisfied with the quality of the IT service?
• Are sufficient IT resources, infrastructure and competencies available to meet strategic objectives?
• What has been the average overrun of IT operational budgets? How often and how much do IT projects go over budget?
• How much of the IT effort goes to firefighting rather than enabling business improvements?

Questions to Ask to Find Out How Management Addresses the IT Issues

• How well are enterprise and IT objectives aligned?
• How is the value delivered by IT being measured?
• What strategic initiatives has executive management taken to manage IT’s criticality relative to maintenance and growth of the enterprise, and are they appropriate?
• Is the enterprise clear on its position relative to technology: pioneer, early adopter, follower or laggard? Is it clear on risk: risk-avoidance or risk-taking?
• Is there an up-to-date inventory of IT risks relevant to the enterprise? What has been done to address these risks?

Questions to Ask to Self-assess IT Governance Practices

• Is the board regularly briefed on IT risks to which the enterprise is exposed?
• Is IT a regular item on the agenda of the board and is it addressed in a structured manner?
• Does the board articulate and communicate the business objectives for IT alignment?
• Does the board have a clear view on the major IT investments from a risk and return perspective? Does the board obtain regular progress reports on major IT projects?
• Is the board getting independent assurance on the achievement of IT objectives and the containment of IT risks?

Source:
Board Briefing on IT Governance, 2nd Edition
by IT Governance Institute
BetterManagement.com

109No Comments »http://www.mgmtquestions.com/2007/07/16/it-governance-checklist/IT+Governance+Checklist2007-07-16+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / IT Questions

The following is a series of questions you should ask partners before you link your systems, whether through supply-chains, customer-relationship management, or as a member of an exchange. The sensitivity level of the data to be shared will dictate the appropriate depth of inquiry:

• Are the devices–servers, routers, and firewalls–your company will use to collaborate dedicated to our company, or are they also used with your other partners/customers? If shared, what have you done to ensure that those other parties can’t access our data?
• Does your company use a server farm or other third party to host its servers? What’s the name of the third party? What security and confidentiality obligations is the third party under? How long has the hosting provider been in business? Under what circumstances might your company change the third-party hosting provider?

These questions should also be posed to the hosting provider:

• Do you receive security-vulnerability advisories from organizations such as the Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center? If yes, which advisories do you receive and what actions are taken?
• Do you have an established computer-incident response program? If yes, may we have a copy? Does the program include notification and escalation procedures to ensure we are notified in the event of an intrusion?
• Has your IT environment undergone a penetration or vulnerability assessment performed by a recognized third party? If yes, may we have a copy? If not, would you be willing to undergo such tests?
• Will any element of your collaboration involve an outsourced service? If so, repeat the vulnerability-assessment questions.
• Has your company taken steps to create and maintain security awareness for data-processing employees and users of systems and networks?
• Has your organization conducted a formal risk analysis to identify information-security threats and quantify potential loss exposures?
• Do you have procedures in place to ensure documents containing sensitive information aren’t discarded in readable form and are shredded or burned?
• Do you have specific procedures for cleansing and/or destroying computer media to ensure confidential information is adequately protected?

Source:
Judicious Partnering
by James Kalyvas
Optimize, December 2002, Issue 14

108No Comments »http://www.mgmtquestions.com/2007/07/15/online-partnering-questions/Online+Partnering+Questions2007-07-15+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / IT Questions

• Is it growing faster than revenues?
• Does it increasingly support older applications that require continual work to adapt to business changes rather than applications that accommodate business changes faster and at lower cost?
• Is there a mechanism to determine how IT spending aligns with the business’s value-adding processes?
• Is there conflict over IT budgets absent an analytical business case-bound decision process?
• Is there a process in place to cancel unpromising IT projects in mid-flight?

Source:
Value Discovery: A Better Way to Prioritize IT Investments
by Gary A. Curtis
Outlook Journal, October 2003

107No Comments »http://www.mgmtquestions.com/2007/07/14/it-spending-questions/IT+Spending+Questions2007-07-14+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / IT Questions

• What is our purpose? Does our organization have a clear mission or charter, and is it being followed?
• Who are our customers? Segmentation analysis is vital in distinguishing, for example, customers who use IT systems outside the office most of the time from customers who don’t travel at all.
• What do different customers want and need to be more effective in their jobs? How can we best meet their needs?
• What services and products should we, and can we, provide? In what instances do we have the competency in-house to perform the task, and when must we rely on external experts?
• Are we satisfying our customers? Revenue is the ultimate measure of success for a for-profit business, but we needed a different set of performance measures to objectively track the value we delivered to customers based on the type and quality of service we provided.

Source:
In Search of Overhead Heroes
by George Tillmann
strategy+business

106No Comments »http://www.mgmtquestions.com/2007/07/12/it-as-a-market-driven-business/IT+as+a+Market-Driven+Business2007-07-12+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / IT Questions

Companies can ask these basic questions to determine whether IT capabilities are contributing to–or hindering–their growth.

1. Is your total IT spending below or above the average for your industry?
   (Clearly below, 1 point; average, 2 points; clearly above, 3 points)
2. What share of your IT budget is spent on new capabilities?
   (0-10%, 1 point; 11-35%, 3 points; above 35%, 4 points)
3. Who decides the size of your IT budget?
   (Your company’s business units, 1 point; business with IT input, 2 points; IT alone, 0 points)
4. Is your company satisfied with its IT capabilities and services?
   (Not at all, 0 points; yes, with prominent exceptions, 3 points; yes, 5 points)
5. Is your IT organization familiar with–or consulted on–your business’s growth strategy and initiatives?
   (Neither familiar nor consulted, 0 points; familiar, 3 points; familiar and consulted, 5 points)
6. Do you consider your competitors’ IT superior to yours?
   (Don’t know, 0 points; in just a few areas, 1 point; usually not, 4 points)
7. Does a business team have a major role in each IT project, including infrastructure and software?
   (Rarely, 0 points; just for key projects, 3 points; always, 6 points)
8. Does your IT team quantify the return on investment of its projects?
   (Rarely, 1 point; where possible, 3 points; always, 4 points)

Here’s how to evaluate your totals:

• A score of 4-14 means that fundamental IT performance and capability issues are inhibiting your company’s growth.
• A score of 15-20 means that IT is not powering growth and is performing poorly. However, it could do better with the confidence of and support from the business side of your company.
• A score of 21-30 indicates your IT organization is not powering growth, despite business leaders who are IT “believers.” It also shows IT needs business ownership for infrastructure projects.
• A score above 30 means the IT and business teams are successfully working together to achieve growth.

Source:
IT-powered growth
by David Shpilberg
Bain & Company

105No Comments »http://www.mgmtquestions.com/2007/07/11/is-your-it-growth-engine-sputtering-some-questions/Is+Your+IT+Growth+Engine+Sputtering%3F+Some+Questions2007-07-11+18%3A15%3A00Administrator Posted by Administrator / IT Questions