The secrets to effective IT procurement

As the CIO role becomes more about vendor management rather than ‘building things’, it is relevant to consider what things make for an effective IT procurement process. To be honest, there are lessons here for CIOs, other IT leaders, and even the vendors that service each of them. As with many #CIOChats, this one was chock full of ideas and back and forth discussion.

What should be the starting for IT procurement?

I asked the CIOs first what should be the starting point for an IT procurement process. CIOs, in general, said, it should be the creation of business requirements. CIOs felt this portion of the process should output requirements, potential value, the future to be created, and the problems to be solved.

Perspectives differed, however, about the timing of generating a return on investment. Some CIOs said that they no longer place a heavy emphasis on ROI. Their focus is instead upon calculating the total cost of ownership for a project or initiative. These CIOs suggest that too many IT leaders place too much emphasis on the return and not enough on the innovation they need to get out of technology.

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Source: www.cio.com