Gartner: A framework for cost optimisation

Editor's Notes

1. Reducing IT costs might be intended as simply laying-off some IT staff, or outsourcing to ESPs, or getting a piece of software for lower license fees. In fact the impact of IT on government ability to deliver public services is so far and wide, that there are multiple areas where IT can make an impact on slashing costs. Some of those areas can be considered low-hanging fruits, other are definitely more difficult to implement, but potentially they also generate much higher return.. At the bottom there is probably procurement, which is a process matter in government with compliance complexities, but also some obvious savings to be made through consolidation and renegotiation Next come tactical actions that can be implemented within the IT department to streamline IT operations: IT process improvement, open source software, automated software distribution Joint business and IT cost savings are those where IT is tightly linked to process improvements and require involving business stakeholders: tele-working, employee self-service, video-conferencing The hardest to get are IT-enabled business cost cutting actionsr. They equire full commitment by line-of-business executives and might require some policy changes: sharing processes across jurisdictions There are also some radical options that can be implemented in the short-to-medium term but require different approaches to sourcing and problem solving.