CIO生存指南,CIO应该利用的财务资源.Image.Marked.pdf

One of the least understood aspects of managing an IT department is f inancial management. Financial management is the sound stewardship of the monetary resources of the organization. It supports the organization in planning and executing its business strategy and requires a consistent application throughout the organization to achieve maximum efficiency and minimum conflict. Therefore, understanding the economics of the organization in general and Information Technology is a maj or step toward developing sound financial strategies to accommodate technological advancement. Fig. 5.1 – Position of Financial Resources in the IT stack Within IT, financial management is visible in three main functions: budgeting, costing and charging. Budgeting is the process of predicting and controlling the spending of money. It consists of a periodic negotiation cycle to set budgets (usually annual) and the day-to-day monitoring of the current budgets. Costing is the set of processes that enable the IT organization to fully account for the way its money is spent. Charging is the set of processes required to bill the customers for the services supplied to them. Budgeting, costing and charging are interrelated and interdependent. Fig. 5.2 – Financial p rocesses A budget is the overview of all the proj ected expenses and the way they will be paid for. An organizations budget is the financial expression of its strategy and so is the part of the budget that covers the IT expenses and incomes. The IT budget also takes into account other elements such as risks, the architecture of the IT environment and the life cycle of the IT systems. Following a well-defined costing model a detailed follow-up of the actual spending is then made, particularly to identify costs by cus