Strategic IT Portfolio Management [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Jeffrey Kaplan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 25, 2005

Strategic IT Portfolio Management delivers a solution to the IT dilemma that has evolved over the past 40 years—namely, how do we get the most value from our IT investment? Author Jeff Kaplan, a lead partner in the Strategic IT Management Practice at consulting firm PRTM, puts nearly two decades of expertise to work exploring and identifying the knowledge, techniques, and strategies needed to maximize technology investments and achieve long-term business transformation for all types of organizations. Written for executives from all disciplines, the book highlights many of the root causes of the IT value dilemma and explains how executives can prevent and counter these issues. Readers will learn the portfolio management methods essential to achieving value. The book provides executives with the tools to: - Illuminate, assess, and improve existing practices - Design a governance structure and allocate appropriate decision rights - Ensure centralized control with decentralized execution - Increase collaboration between business-unit and IT leadership - Instill a culture of continuous improvement and innovation Executives, board members, policymakers, analysts, and the media all want to know: are companies spending too much on information technology (IT)? But the question they should ask is whether organizations are seeing sufficient value from their IT investment—the value that comes from effectively managing technology as part of overall business transformation. Many organizations don’t know how to move from managing technology to managing overall business transformation. Large-scale transformation efforts often go awry because the business leadership team and IT project teams are out of sync. In most of these cases, the organization lacks a governance method that fuses strategic management of the business, the technology, and the projects. Portfolio management is the governance method that’s needed. Strategic IT Portfolio Management describes the portfolio management governance method necessary for transformation success. This book highlights many of the root causes for the IT dilemma and explains how executives can prevent and counter these issues. Readers gain an inside look at how portfolio management can instill a culture of continuous improvement and innovation within the organization.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Jeff's book was insightful and very useful to determine how an organization can transform their business by understanding the issues underlying IT management challenges and the governance framework to determine and manage through the IT investments that can enable transformation. Jeff's knowledge based on his experience and research provided me great insights for policy and management as a former portfolio manager at the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and Federal CIO. --Steve Galvan, Chief Information Officer, U.S. Small Business Administration, LinkedIn, March 9, 2009

Jeff is one of the sharpest, most insightful, professionals I have ever worked with. Smart as a whip, Jeff moves fast, thinks fast, and has an unerring sense of what makes a business or organization tick. He is the right guy to have on your side. --Steven Cash, Principal & Counsel, LinkedIn, March 10, 2009

For Senior Executives and IT Managers looking to unlock the value of IT within their organizations, Jeff's book Strategic IT Portfolio Management is a compass for transforming your IT organization. Once you grasp Jeff's fundamental lesson of investment trade-offs, and then begin deploying his practical governance techniques, you will never view IT through the same set of lenses again. --John Palmer, EMC, LinkedIn, March 12, 2009

About the Author

Jeffrey Kaplan is a lead partner in the Strategic IT Management Practice of global management consultancy Pittiglio Rabin Todd & McGrath (PRTM). He is a thought leader in IT management, and has worked with numerous organizations to define and implement dramatic business improvements through strategic investments in technology. Based in Washington D.C., Kaplan publishes and presents on governance issues. His expertise includes strategy, performance management, customer management, technology management, and organizational change management. His experience spans the banking, chemical, computer, government, pharmaceutical, software, and telecommunications industries.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 285 pages
• Publisher: Jeffrey Kaplan, PRTM, Inc.; illustrated edition edition (July 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976609304
• ISBN-13: 978-0976609308
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #946,117 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Good book, lousy Kindle edition, October 8, 2011

By 

I. Tarasevitsch (Augusta, GA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Strategic IT Portfolio Management (Kindle Edition)

First, I have to say I don't own a Kindle -- I read my ebooks using Cloud Reader and Kindle for PC on my Windows 7 laptop, and using Kindle for Android on my Droid2. Maybe it's better on a real Kindle. But, the version I have has sporadic page numbers, appearing in the middle of text when they appear at all (makes life hard because it's a textbook for a class, and some reading assignments are given out by page number), the diagram and charts are all garbled, and special formatting (text colors, italics, bold face, etc.) appears to have been applied at random. The book itself is pretty good, but I'm wishing I had purchased a treeware copy. This ebook is a perfect example of how to NOT translate a book to Kindle.

9 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars IT & Business Drivers hand in hand, May 16, 2007

By 

Raul "Ratamahata" - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Strategic IT Portfolio Management (Hardcover)

I'm a technology consultant, Manager for IT Infrastructure Professional Services. Seeking for business value from the ground IT infrastructure, I got to Portfolio Management and Governance. This book has a terrific content and knowledge design, so you can get from the basic to specific easily. I loved it from the begining, starting for Making IT matter, and stating a clear vision of business value from IT, justifying a critical position in the primary activities for any Value Chain, raising from the support units. Great description on How we got to this mess, and the historical and contingency analysis of the facts and secuencing of thresholds that drive IT to a magnifically described "Death Spiral". Design chapters are described to praxis and granular enough so you can get the specifics you need as well as the whole enchilada. Precise and concise despcription of the Success Enablers, like Best Practices and Performance Metrics descriptions.
Worth getting this book.
Absolutely recommended for those interested in governance, project management, portfolio management, IT Business Value and how to fit your Professional Services Value message to customers.