Evaluating business value of IT towards optimisation of the application portfolio

Abstract

Information technology has become heavily embedded in business operations. As business needs change over time, IT applications are expected to continue providing required support. Whether the existing IT applications are still fit for the business purpose they were intended or new IT applications should be introduced is a strategic decision for business, IT and business-aligned IT. In this article, we present a method that aims to analyse business functions and IT roles and to evaluate business-aligned IT from both social and technical perspectives. The method introduces a set of techniques that systematically supports the evaluation of the existing IT applications in relation to their technical capabilities for maximising business value. Furthermore, we discuss the evaluation process and results that are illustrated and validated through a real-life case study of a UK borough council and followed by discussion on implications for researchers and practitioners.

Keywords:

• business–IT alignment
• business and IT service mapping
• IS services
• IT rationalisation
• social value of IT

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Cameron Spence from Capgemini for his support by allowing the research team to observe their professional practice. Thanks are also due to Chekfoung Tan who helped collect the data and Danny Gozman for his comments and input to the article. Our appreciation also goes to the reviewers for their thorough, critical and constructive comments to improve this article.