We adopt a structured approach to the design, development, delivery and support of IT services and have embedded these into our service lifecycle framework. We recognise the common outputs and behaviours generated at each phase and as a result help our clients realise benefits from achieving these as quickly as possible.

Four steps to an operational efficiency vs risk heat map:

• Establish a service oriented view of infrastructure services
• Identify appropriate classes for each service (with performance, availability, scalability and cost parameters)
• Deliver services as value added infrastructure applications
• Drill down to efficiency gains and operational risks within the technology components

Practical considerations:

• Quickly determine how bold and wide-ranging the initiative will be; in an organisation which is at the 'Basic’ or 'Standardised’ level in the maturity model, it will not be possible to do everything at once
• PMs and cost centre owners often feel disenfranchised if financials are late, inconsistent or not available at the right level of detail; balance strategic objectives with making people’s day-to-day responsibilities easier
• Simpler is almost always better; many organisations overcomplicate financial management with matrix budgets and / or unclear accountability
• Decide where the boundaries between Finance & IT lie; it’s not uncommon for many low-level financial processes to creep into IT without clear stewardship

At the heart of the landscape is the functional discipline of financial & business management. In line with our service-centric ethos of IT delivery, we recognise the key phases of maturity an organisation willtypically go through to reach a truly service oriented approach to financial management. We help our clients accelerate maturity through the major phases to this end.

Infrastructure service levels or classes need to be defined with the financial management function in mind as this will determine the granularity for collating costs. We promote a transparent billing policy so that all costs are allocated against each service class. Service consumption (e.g. users, products, cost centres) can then be mapped to the appropriate service class.

At the heart of the landscape is the functional discipline of financial & business management. In line with our service-centric ethos of IT delivery, we recognise the key phases of maturity an organisation willtypically go through to reach a truly service oriented approach to financial management. We help our clients accelerate maturity through the major phases to this end.

At the heart of the landscape is the functional discipline of financial & business management. In line with our service-centric ethos of IT delivery, we recognise the key phases of maturity an organisation willtypically go through to reach a truly service oriented approach to financial management. We help our clients accelerate maturity through the major phases to this end.

We employ a rapid profiling method to determine the IT Landscape in terms of today's 'as is' environment and the desired 'to be' target. From this an initial set of potential gaps is prepared with recommendations for service improvement. These are supported by metrics and targets to measure and demonstrate downstream progress.

• Immediate tactical fixes required
• Strategic medium term solutions and/or service improvements needed
• Optimal behaviour demonstrated

There are a number of factors causing IT related initiatives to fail to meet original objectives or deliver the explected benefits. From our experience, many of these relate to the lack or inadequacy of overall governance and stewardship of the change initiative itself. Gaining stakeholder buy-in and sponsorship at the outset is key and overseeing the ongoing delivery of benefits in a business context is critical in order to avoid IT for IT's sake. We have developed a governance model to complement the service lifecycle framework to ensure that the main 'control gates' in the lifecycle are managed effectively and efficiently.

There are a number of factors causing IT related initiatives to fail to meet original objectives or deliver the explected benefits. From our experience, many of these relate to the lack or inadequacy of overall governance and stewardship of the change initiative itself. Gaining stakeholder buy-in and sponsorship at the outset is key and overseeing the ongoing delivery of benefits in a business context is critical in order to avoid IT for IT's sake. We have developed a governance model to complement the service lifecycle framework to ensure that the main 'control gates' in the lifecycle are managed effectively and efficiently.