IT Success!: Towards a New Model for Information Technology

7.3. Who has the final say for IT investments?

It would be logical to assume that if the client ends up owning the IT budget – either directly at the outset, or indirectly through allocations or cross-charging – then he should have the final say in what that budget buys in terms of hardware, software and services. That assumption is correct – but subject to expert advice from a trusted advisor.

Let's look at some analogies outside of IT. Before the marketing department launches a major campaign, it will probably rely on expert advice from some outside consultancy or agency. Another example is in recruiting, in which HR will rely on a head-hunting firm or recruiting agency to do the screening and come up with a short list of candidates. Same thing for IT: just because the client owns the budget doesn't mean he can decide on which software solutions to purchase without expert advice. This is all the more important for IT, in which non-specialists from the business would logically be more susceptible to influence from sources like vendors, consultants – or even magazine articles.

The IT department is therefore the trusted advisor, who not only knows the ins and outs of software selection, but also the critical importance of architecture, and how any products – bought or built – have to be able to integrate into the enterprise architecture. Yesterday's stand-alone applications have long since given way to integrated, enterprise-wide applications which need to talk to each other, both ...