28 Posts Found

• 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

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Subject: 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

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Subject: IT Questions

• Have the firm’s competitors invested in m-business technology? If so, where and how?
• Have companies in complementary industries invested in m-business technology? If so, where and how?
• How large or significant are m-business opportunities and threats in the firm’s arena?
• To what extent does mobile technology support or threaten the firm’s existing business model?
• What degree of business transformation is required to implement a wireless solution within the

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Subject: IT Questions

• How and how well are enterprise and IT objectives aligned with each other?
• How is the value delivered by IT being measured? Are the assumptions reasonable and are intangible benefits verified?
• 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,

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Subject: IT Questions

For every asset that supports business critical service, Visible Ops recommends the following questions be answered:

• What does it do?
• What is the hardware platform?
• What is the operating system platform?
• What applications are installed?
• Who is responsible for this asset’s uptime?
• What service(s) does it support?
• Who is authorized to make changes?
• What does this box do for the business?
• What will happen when this box stops working completely?
• What will happen

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Subject: IT Questions

• Is IT a regular item on the board’s agenda and, if so, is it addressed in a structured manner?
• Does the board articulate and communicate the business objectives for IT alignment?
• Does the board review, and possibly approve, the IT strategy?
• Does the board have a clear view on the total IT investment portfolio from a risk and return perspective? Does the board receive regular progress reports

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Subject: IT Questions

For every asset that supports business critical service, Visible Ops recommends the following questions be answered:

• What does it do?
• What is the hardware platform?
• What is the operating system platform?
• What applications are installed?
• Who is responsible for this asset´s uptime?
• What service(s) does it support?
• Who is authorized to make changes?
• What does this box do for the business?
• What will happen when this box stops working completely?
• What will happen when the

… [ Read more ]

Subject: IT Questions

Still stuck with bad processes and high-maintenance legacy systems? Here are five questions that will help you determine and sort your priorities.

• Is your company’s infrastructure helping or hindering your company’s …
  M&A options and plans?
  New-product and speed-to-market strategies?
  Efforts to implement new technologies that deliver a more unified, holistic view of your customers?
  Depending on your company’s business strategy in the coming years, a response

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Subject: IT Questions