Self-Test Series - IT Investment Management Approach Assessment

IT Investment Management Approach Assessment

Q&A About This Self-Test

What is the Self-Assessment Test?
Why assess the IT decision-making process?
Why is knowing this important?
How do I take the Test?
What will it tell me?

Take the Test

What is the Self-Assessment Test? [back to top]

The Test is a quick way for anyone to get a general idea of how well their own organization’s IT decision-making process compares with "best practices". It is designed to be indicative and not conclusive.

For the purposes of the Test, we adapted and greatly simplified RMS’ standard IT Decision-making evaluation methodology (which consists of more than 400 questions that are administered by RMS’ trained analysts).

Why assess the IT decision-making process? [back to top]

Many senior managers want to know how well their IT decision-making process:

fosters alignment between proposed IT projects and their organization’s strategic goals and business objectives

helps them select the "best" mix of projects and activities for funding

ensures that projects are implemented on-time, within budget, and

that IT projects and activities deliver the expected results

The Self-Test is designed to give a general indication of how your organization’s process compares with "best practices".

Why is knowing this important? [back to top]

Investments in information technology (IT) can have a dramatic impact on an organization's performance. Well-managed IT investments that are carefully selected and focused on meeting business / mission needs can dramatically improve performance while reducing costs. Likewise, poor investments, those that are inadequately justified or whose costs, risks, and benefits are poorly managed, can hinder and even restrict an organization's performance.

Despite making a huge investment in IT, many organizations are still hampered by inaccurate data and inadequate systems. Too often, IT projects have cost too much, produced too little, and failed to significantly improve business / mission performance. Yet there is also general agreement that the organization's ability to improve its service and performance will depend heavily upon how well IT can be integrated into fundamental business / mission needs

How do I take the Test? [back to top]

It is easy. Once you press "start the Test", 30 questions will appear in sequence; each question has three possible answers -- Always, Sometimes, Never. Click on the answer that you feel is most representative of your organization’s process. If you’re not sure, guess.

At the conclusion of the test, click the "See Results" button; in less than 30 seconds the results will be displayed for each of the phases - Selection, Control, and Evaluation - of the IT Investment Management Approach. (Note: If you haven’t done so already, we suggest that you complete the free tutorial on this subject before proceeding to the test. This will take about 10 minutes, but, will greatly enhance your understanding of the test questions and results.)

What will it tell me? [back to top]

An IT investment management process is an integrated approach to managing IT investments that provides for the continuous identification, selection, control, life-cycle management, and evaluation of IT investments. This structured process provides a systematic method for organizations to minimize risks while maximizing the return of IT investments.

The Test will give you a general picture of whether your organization’s IT decision-making process ranks close to best practices or, like most organizations, has a lot of improvements to make. Since some organizations are better in some areas than others, separate scores are calculated for IT project / activity: Selection, Control, and Evaluation.

Begin "IT Investment Management Approach Assessment" Self-Test.