Method of Drawing Up a Road Map that Considers the Synergy Effect for IT Investment

IT governance lacks a comprehensive vision of the investment in two or more projects. It is necessary to decide the priority level that maximizes the effect under the constraint conditions. The problem is complex because while sometimes a greater effect can be obtained by introducing two or more measures at the same time, other times the effect of two measures introduced at the same time might not be significant. Although there is thus a synergy effect when two or more measures are introduced, no method for drawing up an investment-decision road map considered that effect. We therefore developed one. What a decision-maker thinks about when considering the introduction of two or more measures can be visualized by drawing up a comprehensive road map that satisfies constraint conditions such as effectiveness of measure, budget, time, staff size, order of introduction, the synergy effect. Road map users can easily reach a consensus because the map, by taking into account the constraint conditions and the investment decision-making process, helps them logically explain the order in which the measures should be introduced.