nGenera Community - By: Bob Landstrom

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By: Bob Landstrom

a reply to IT Infrastructure, Options, and Cost-Benefit Analysis
by Bob Landstrom on Jun 24, 2008 - 09:09 AM read 135 times
Source: http://itorganization2017.wordpress.com/?p=260#comment-300

Thanks for this post, Vaughan. This causes me to reflect on some very recent instances of this very problem in my own consulting practice.

I often help my Clients with data center consolidation and construction of new data center facilities. The exercise in seeking approval of funds for these very foundational infrastructure projects almost always follows the same path. The path starts with investigation of the ROI.

As you can imagine, it’s very difficult to show an ROI for a data center construction project. This is especially true given that one is always simultaneously seeking to improve the TIA-942 Tier Level rating of the IT facilities. These are extremely expensive projects. Even if one believes that an ROI is the right way to approach such a decision, there will be a very high reliance on the “soft” returns for such an effort (i.e., risk mitigation).

Just as with the situation with the levees in the MidWest, New Orleans, and recent data center-specific disasters (e.g., the recent event at The Planet in Houston, TX), your point about the cause and effect chains between IT infrastructure investment and Business value is well taken.

Thanks.

Bob Landstrom

Tags
IS Management, IT funding, IT Infrastructure, IT Management, IT Maturity, justifying IT investments, Portfolio Management, real options, Vaughan Merlyn, Web 2.0

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