Measuring the Business Value of IT - Including Intangible Benefits

Here is a very interesting work done by Forrester Research on the behalf of SAP. In particular, the author - Craig Symons - has a lot to say about measuring those pesky intangibles. Registration may be required.

Time for Orderly Dismemberment

This is off topic for this blog but please forgive me this transgression. Is it time for orderly dismemberment of the larger, now obviously failed, financial institutions in America? The most obvious way to do this is through a Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The large banks like Bank of America are quickly becoming a cancer in the economic world and the U.S. government appears to be doing more harm than good in this regard.

There are few people in the world more in favor of free markets than I am. But the actions of arrogant bankers like John Thain are reminiscent of Worldcom and Enron. I think Adam Smith would tell you that the only way guys like Thain can so egregiously mismanage a company is because normal market signals aren't working here. I'm not sure why that is - except that the government is now playing a major role in the management of the large banks.

But in any market where the signals are not clear there are huge opportunities to make money. This is where day traders and hedge funders make their livings. There is an old Steve Martin routine about how to avoid paying taxes on a million dollars. It starts with "first get a million dollars". Oh, that I had a million dollars to play with in this market ... but first I must get a million dollars.

Perhaps after I got my MBA in Finance, I should have gone to Wall Street. I did have a couple of calls from recruiters, after all. But, no, IT seemed more interesting and a lot less stressful. (Well, that and a young family to support who certainly didn't need the breadwinner changing careers and starting over.)

So, I don't have a million dollars to play with on Wall Street. Too bad because I think today I'm smarter than those guys. Not more clever, mind you, but smarter. They are clever, like cunning animals.

I once worked for a company that will remain unnamed. We had an executive who did terrible, long-lasting damage to the organization through extended mismanagement. He was finally relieved of his duties and the rest of us had to pick up the pieces and turn the operation around.

One day we were discussing this around the coffee machine. One colleague commented on how much money the guy was certainly making. Another quipped, "Gee, I would have done half the damage and only charged half as much. I would have been a bargain."

Read the link. I would have done one-tenth the damage these guys have done and only charged one-tenth as much.