How the Chief Information Officer Benefits from R-pM
Chief Information Officers (CIOs) face a difficult situation
Much is written about the “CIO Problem”. Often it written to appear that the problem is with the CIOs, when the problem lies with the organization and management of Information Technology (IT). The main problems with normal corporate IT are:
- Information Technology has become a difficult to manage mixture of capital that is administered as technology, rather than being managed as capital
- The mixture of capital requires many basic human capabilities that no one individual can hope to possess
- Information systems have become very complex and difficult to maintain and manage
- The corporate data base maintains mostly information that is irrelevant to managing the actual business, creating information complexity and management difficulties
- The IT architecture, equipment, and networks are managed separately from other corporate infrastructure and is generally unwieldy
- Information capital in data, knowledge, and intelligence is managed as technology
- Information Technology is separate from the rest of the corporate business creating alignment difficulties
- Information Technology is administered rather than managed as capital to provide the solutions needed to produce other enterprise results
- The “technology” is no longer so specialized, or is sub-specialized in pockets, and is no longer a valid reason to group diverse capital together
- There is no business framework for managing Information Technology, making it difficult to plan and manage the specific results to be produced
These problems make it difficult for anyone as a CIO or Information Technology Manager to manage the scope and environment of information technology today.
Result-performance Management (R-pM) organizes Information Technology as capital
Result-performance Management (R-pM) organizes the business for 21st Century Management. If you are not familiar with R-pM, review the posts under Learn the Basics of R-pM for the orientation you need.
R-pM has been accused of doing away with IT and the CIO position. R-pM does away with administration and Information Technology Units in order to organize enterprise capital to be properly managed by those with the specific basic capability. CIOs and IT managers accept substantial responsibilities for the management of the capital for which they are best suited.
R-pM organizes the capital involved in 20th century Information Technology as follows:
- Business systems and data are business capital, used to produce a specific result, that must be organized and managed as business process, and business data capital
- IT architecture, equipment, and networks are facility equipment that must be managed together with communication networks and other enterprise infrastructure
- IT strategy is management strategy capital that must be managed together as a strategic business structure
- Information capital must be separately managed as business data, human knowledge, facility records, and management intelligence to provide needed information solutions to produce results
R-pM organizes business, human, facility, and management capital units to produce capital and performance management results.
Current information systems do not manage the business
Current information systems are large contrived systems that do not manage the actual business. Systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning, Supply Chain Management, Production and Logistics Management, and Customer Relationship Management are laid over the business and manage many information entities that are irrelevant to the actual business. This has produced the large business and information complexity problem that plagues most enterprises.
R-pM organizes the business for application of Information Technology to direct business management
The biggest impact of R-pM on Information Technology is in the future design and application of information systems. R-pM simplifies the business to results and performance solutions managed as one business structure. Information systems are designed to organize and manage business results and the performance solutions that produce results. Information systems are business process solutions to be integrated with the business to produce each result, and to support result value-quality chains.
The systems manage actual business data on the volume, value, and quality of results produced and the capacity, cost, and effectiveness of performance solutions utilized. Basic business data consists of only five entities; results, performance solutions, capital, enterprises, and time periods.
21st century information systems will be much more generic to manage business basics that are common to all enterprises to enable comparison, collaboration, and integration. 20th century systems can be phased out. The information system hardware, software, and network overhead can be reduced significantly.
The CIO and Information Technology managers benefit by applying their capabilities properly to produce results
While R-pM does not include the titles CIO and IT manager, R-pM requires their capabilities to manage capital where they have the appropriate capabilities.
- Those with a background and skills in application system support are normally best suited for business capital management to manage business organization, process and data capital
- Those with expertise in equipment and network management and support are normally best suited for facility capital management
- Those with capabilities in information system delivery management are normally best suited for investment management and project management to manage change over time
- Those with strategic management capabilities are normally best suited for management capital management
Information technology capital is a large part of each of the result areas, so the capabilities developed will be in high demand in the 21st century enterprise. Additional information is provided in the article “The CIO Problem from poor Capital Organization and Management“.
Result-performance management (R-pM) is the conventional method of 21st Century Management
Result-performance Management provides the tools and guidance for 21st century management. R-pM provides the framework for successful management no matter what result responsibility you have. With R-pM, you quickly become used to thinking in terms of results produced and the value of results, performance solutions utilized and performance costs, and the worth of enterprise capital. You plan for result value and quality, understand performance costs and effectiveness, and can appreciate result value added by planned results.
R-pM provides the solutions needed to produce value-quality capital results
R-pM enables you to focus on producing capital results. Most of today’s administration related to 20th century structures is eliminated. Unneeded or low-value results are discontinued. As a capital manager, you produce capital results as a sub-set of enterprise capital results. You have your own result-performance business structure to manage. Your results may form a result value-quality chain to produce a final result and related solutions.
R-pM enables you to manage the performance that produces each result
With R-pM, you quickly become used to managing the results and performance solutions under your responsibility. A performance manager is responsible to provide the solutions you need to produce results. Solutions have performance expectations to qualify solutions provided and manage the adequacy of solutions. Your normal set of performance solutions is defined as a performance module to be managed as a whole. The performance solutions you develop or provide are also part of your performance module
You have a wider span of result responsibility and specific result goals to achieve. Goals can plan the volume, timing, costs, or quality of your results. You use information technology to quickly add and deactivate results and the solutions you use. You define specific results and goals to be produced by those you manage.
You set the value of your results with the internal customer who wants you to produce results. You and the customer can evaluate the result and know the cost of producing the result. This lets you know and manage the value you add.
You manage performance costs against result value for result value-added
You and those you manage enter personnel and capability time against the results produced. Other performance costs are preset or are captured against results produced in facility records capital management. This enables you to manage the result value-added. If a result value-added is negative, you must reduce the performance costs or work with customers to increase the value of the result and decrease the value of another result in your chain. Or else, the result should not be produced.
Even as a capital manager, you manage the effectiveness of the solutions you utilize to produce quality results. The business process, information systems, and other solutions are utilized result by result. If a defective result is produced, it is brought up to quality or replaced in the result value-quality chain.
You optimize your performance to produce value-quality results
The information you use to manage focuses on the results produced and the performance solutions utilized. The impact between others results and your results can be managed. You can optimize the costs, effectiveness, and capacity of performance solutions you utilize against the value, quality, and volume of results you produce. You can see the value you add to the value of enterprise capital results.
R-pM provides the environment to increase your capital worth
R-pM enables you to eliminate wasteful activities performed today. You can focus on producing value-quality results. You are supported by performance managers for the business, human, facility, and management solutions you utilize. The integrated information solutions you need are delivered by result and performance solution. You are able to increase the known result value you provide to the total enterprise result value. There is a framework to assess capital worth to reflect actual value-added. You increase your human capital worth and the worth of those you manage.
The R-pM Toolkit is your 21st Century Management Manual
21st Century Management is the future of business management. R-pM is the only method that supports 21st century management. This article covered only small bits of R-pM and like have left you confused. Go to result-performance-management.com to learn more under What is R-pM?. The guidance you and your enterprise need to gain immediate advantage from 21st Century Management is provided in the R-pM Toolkit.
Even if your corporation does not move to 21st Century Management, understanding 21st Century Management will benefit you immensely as a CIO and will provide the needed framework for improved information technology management in the 20th century corporation.
