CIO Shannon Gath on building IT value from day one

Because they understand the priorities, those teams can make those decisions themselves.” [...]questions include: “How is this investment supporting your business strategy?” “What risk does this initiative create?” “Are we growing the top line or benefitting the bottom line?” “Is this a ‘try’ or a capability that we’re going to embed into the organization?” Addressing questions like these enables Gath’s leadership team to get to the ultimate question: “What is the value of this initiative and when we can expect it?” With that final question answered, Gath and her team can put in place another key to IT value: measuring the ROI of initiative after it is implemented. “In every CIO role I’ve had, one of the biggest obstacles is a lack of transparency around how we are reducing operating costs so that we can free up funding for growth opportunities,” she says.