It is now accepted that IT functions are a fundamental part of the competitive business model. Instead of simply offering services IT must 'create value' for the business. This practical title describes the strong financial skills that IT managers must have in order to support:
*Operations: Finance departments rely heavily on IT managers being able to identify, track and measure costs - sometimes at a very granular level
*Budgeting: the very technical nature of IT operations means that budgeting can be more complex than many other areas
*Project Delivery: large technical project deliveries means that costs can be correspondingly complex to account for
*Business Modeling; pricing models rely heavily on IT managers skills and accuracy. Where one service supports many commercial offerings a strong model is needed to apportion costs appropriately
*Investment and business cases: a sound understanding of the financial contribution the IT assets make to the overall business is critical to gain support for ongoing investment
This outstanding title covers the main financial concepts that managers need to be familiar with in order for IT to take its proper senior place as a contributor to the business. It assumes a basic level of financial understanding and builds on the techniques required almost daily; therefore it is overwhelmingly practical and based on real world scenarios. Not only are the techniques fully described but issues such as
*roles,
*implementation,
*daily management and even
*tooling
are detailed.