Simplifying IT Complexity a Major Opportunity for Many Companies
Curbing Excessive Complexity Can Significantly Increase the IT Function's Ability to Support the Company's Business Objectives, Says The Boston Consulting Group
(firmenpresse) - BOSTON, MA -- (Marketwire) -- 03/21/13 -- Too much complexity in a company's IT environment can drive up the company's IT costs materially. It can also reduce the IT function's speed, flexibility, and ability to support the company's business objectives, taking a toll on the company's competitive prospects. But successfully tackling extraneous IT complexity is difficult and demands a multipronged approach, says a new report from The Boston Consulting Group (BCG). The report, Simplify IT: Six Ways to Reduce Complexity, is being released today.
Some IT complexity, says BCG, is inevitable and can actually be a major contributor to business value -- by allowing the company to create a more differentiated product or service, for example. But much is ultimately unnecessary and should be eliminated or reduced to the extent possible. Doing so can be highly challenging, however, as IT complexity typically builds gradually and stems from multiple causes, including mergers and acquisitions and weak IT governance.
Yet IT complexity can be addressed with the right approach, the report says. And the impact on IT costs and performance can be significant. An effective IT-simplification effort can reduce application and infrastructure costs by up to 50 percent and total IT costs by as much as 30 percent. It can also give the IT organization far greater flexibility and agility and improve its overall ability to support the company's objectives.
BCG's report identifies six levers for addressing IT complexity that cover both business-driven IT complexity and complexity that the IT function can address unilaterally. The levers, which can be pursued simultaneously, in sequence, or in isolation, are the following:
Intelligent demand management, or the provision of sufficient transparency to the business to allow it to make informed decisions about its demand for IT services vis-à-vis costs and business-value added
Scenario-based application rationalization, or the optimization of the number of applications through consolidation, replacement, and decommissioning
Infrastructure technology-pattern reduction, or a shrinking of the number of patterns (that is, configurations of hardware, software, and middleware elements) in the IT infrastructure to minimize the variety of technologies, processes, and skills necessary for application delivery
A simplified IT organization and an enabled IT workforce, or a trimming of management layers and the optimization of spans of control, coupled with efforts to ensure an appropriately sized and skilled IT staff
Effective governance and simplified processes, or the establishment of a comprehensive framework to optimize business-IT governance, combined with the simplification of processes through use of lean and agile methodologies
A shared-services model and optimized sourcing, or the adoption of a shared-services model to service delivery and the development of a unified, companywide sourcing model
The report discusses these levers in detail and illustrates their potential effectiveness with real-world examples, including examples of companies from the financial-services and industrial-goods sectors. The report also identifies must-haves for the successful design and implementation of any IT-simplification effort.
A copy of the report, which is part of BCG's Game-Changing Program to help leaders and their companies capitalize on the opportunities created by the seismic shifts in the global economy, can be downloaded at .
To arrange an interview with one of the authors, please contact Eric Gregoire at +1 617 850 3783 or .
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) is a global management consulting firm and the world's leading advisor on business strategy. We partner with clients from the private, public, and not-for-profit sectors in all regions to identify their highest-value opportunities, address their most critical challenges, and transform their enterprises. Our customized approach combines deep insight into the dynamics of companies and markets with close collaboration at all levels of the client organization. This ensures that our clients achieve sustainable competitive advantage, build more capable organizations, and secure lasting results. Founded in 1963, BCG is a private company with 78 offices in 43 countries. For more information, please visit bcg.com.
features the latest thinking from BCG experts as well as from CEOs, academics, and other leaders. It covers issues at the top of senior management's agenda. It also provides unprecedented access to BCG's extensive archive of thought leadership stretching back almost 50 years to the days of Bruce Henderson, the firm's founder and one of the architects of modern management consulting. All of our content -- including videos, podcasts, commentaries, and reports -- can be accessed via , mobile,,,, and.
The Boston Consulting Group
Global Media Relations Manager
Tel +1 617 850 3783
Fax +1 617 850 3701
Themen in dieser Pressemitteilung:
Unternehmensinformation / Kurzprofil:
Datum: 20.03.2013 - 23:01 Uhr
Sprache: Deutsch
News-ID 1209117
Anzahl Zeichen: 0
contact information:
Contact person:
Town:
BOSTON, MA
Phone:
Kategorie:
Accounting, Audit and Tax
Anmerkungen:
Diese Pressemitteilung wurde bisher 138 mal aufgerufen.
Die Pressemitteilung mit dem Titel:
"Simplifying IT Complexity a Major Opportunity for Many Companies
"
steht unter der journalistisch-redaktionellen Verantwortung von
The Boston Consulting Group (Nachricht senden)
Beachten Sie bitte die weiteren Informationen zum Haftungsauschluß (gemäß TMG - TeleMedianGesetz) und dem Datenschutz (gemäß der DSGVO).
