EVALUATING STRATEGIC VALUE IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS A case study at SKF

Abstract

On an ever more globalised market with larger and larger enterprises the competition is getting harder all the time. As a result of this IT departments are forced to become more aligned with business. When treated as any other line of business focus is changing from cost to return and this rises new demands on the methods used for managing IS/IT. In spite of being of great strategic value, soft benefits are often disregarded. Considering this, our main issue has been; what factors ae impotant to consider when choosing methods for evaluating strategic value in information systems development projects? Our studies were conducted at SKF partly as a case study and partly as interviews, based on extensive literature studies. The findings indicate that the most important factor when choosing methods is awareness of their properties, both good and bad, and that the choice is a deliberate one. This makes it possible to create a portfolio of methods complementing each other and covering all aspects of strategic value.