The strategic allocation of resources towards IT initiatives can significantly impact a business’s performance, competitiveness, and long-term success. However, making informed and effective IT investments isn’t merely about allocating budgets but maximising the return on investment (ROI).But how do you determine the ROI of IT when most of its benefits are intangible?
To harness the full potential of IT, organisations must make smart and strategic investments that benefit them directly and indirectly through productivity and efficient collaboration.
Additionally, IT investments have changed significantly over the past ten years as new technologies have emerged and disrupted traditional business practices. One of the most notable changes is the shift from onsite servers to cloud computing, which has transformed many organisations' IT infrastructure and service delivery models.
A step back in time
Onsite servers are physical machines owned and maintained by the organisation and are located on its premises or in a nearby data centre. Onsite servers require upfront capital expenditure, ongoing maintenance costs, and dedicated IT staff to manage them. Moreover, these systems have limited scalability, flexibility, and security as they depend on the available hardware, software, and network resources.
For example, if a fire on-premises damages the servers, the company may risk losing all its data and millions in damages.
Cloud computing, however, enables IT services online, offering various benefits such as lower upfront costs, greater flexibility, agility, and innovation. Although it still poses challenges such as security risks, vendor lock-in, and compliance issues, there is still more control from the organisation.
The shift from onsite servers to cloud computing has also affected how IT investments are evaluated and measured. In the past, the ROI of IT projects were primarily based on tangible costs and benefits, such as hardware purchases, software licenses, and operational savings. Today, however, IT investments are more complex and intangible, involving factors such as customer experience, brand reputation, competitive advantage, and environmental impact.
Still, although these factors are harder to quantify and measure, they have a significantly higher impact on the long-term success and sustainability of the organisation. That’s why it’s critical to consider both the financial and non-financial aspects of IT investments and use appropriate models and frameworks to evaluate them.
Maximising ROI with a Balanced Scorecard
To effectively evaluate IT ROI, employ a framework like the Balanced Scorecard, involving four essential perspectives:
- Financial: Financial KPIs, such as revenue growth, cost reduction, and profitability, help measure the direct impact of IT initiatives on your company’s bottom line.
- Customer: Customer satisfaction, retention, and loyalty are crucial indicators of IT’s contribution to enhancing customer experiences and relationships.
- Internal processes: Assess the efficiency, quality, and innovation within internal processes to determine how IT investments can optimise operations.
- Learning and growth: Employee engagement, skills development, and knowledge management reflect the contribution of IT to enhancing human capital.
By evaluating IT initiatives against these perspectives, you can identify and measure the value IT delivers across different dimensions, ensuring a holistic approach to ROI maximisation.
Factors beyond cost
While cost is a pivotal factor when evaluating IT investments, one can also consider other factors, including:
- Intangible benefits: IT investments can yield non-financial outcomes that are often challenging to quantify but hold immense value. These may include improved customer experiences, enhanced brand reputation, increased competitive advantage, or reduced environmental impact. Intangible benefits may not appear on balance sheets but are pivotal in long-term success.
- Risk management: Threats such as cybersecurity breaches, data loss, system failures, regulatory violations, or legal disputes can impact both finances and reputation. A robust risk management framework minimises the likelihood and impact of these risks, ensuring the security and continuity of IT investments
- Alignment with business direction and compliance: IT investments must align with your organisation's strategic goals, objectives, and values. They should also adhere to legal, ethical, and social norms and standards. Ensuring this alignment influences feasibility and enhances the legitimacy and acceptability of IT investments within the organisation and the broader market.
Investing versus spending
There’s a significant difference between investing in an IT system and spending money on an IT system that doesn’t align with your business goals. To optimise ROI, try to strike a balance between spending and investing. Allocate your resources and budgets appropriately for each category and assess the impact of each IT initiative, categorising them as either spending or investing.
Want to invest in IT infrastructure? Learn more about how you can optimize IT infrastructure for a seamless business operation.
