In today’s digital era, CIOs must shift(转移) their priorities from cost cutting to driving revenue(收入), and from process engineering to exploiting data if they want to achieve a set of broader business outcomes. Furthermore, understanding how to measure and communicate the business value of IT helps to foster a level of transparency that breaks down the barriers that traditionally exist between IT and the rest of the business.
在当今的数字化时代，如果想要实现一系列更广泛的业务成果，CIO们必须将他们的工作重点从削减成本转向推动收入，从流程工程转向利用数据。此外，了解如何度量和交流IT的业务价值有助于培养一定程度的透明度，从而打破IT和其他业务部门之间传统上存在的障碍。

Enterprise IT Value: A Total Snapshot 企业IT价值:全面概述

Enterprise IT creates value in two distinct ways, via:
企业IT通过两种截然不同的方式创造价值:

Asset Value: Acquisition of new technology is at the foundation of any business. This typically refers to hardware and software that keeps a business operational; and
Business Value: Overall impact on business model and service delivery, these are enhancements(增强功能) to business priorities. Business value exists as a supplement to shareholder value to provide a greater picture of an organization’s true worth.
资产价值：获取新技术是任何业务的基础。这通常是指保持企业运营的硬件和软件；以及
业务价值：对业务模型和服务交付的总体影响，这些都是对业务优先级的增强。商业价值作为股东价值的补充而存在，以提供一个组织真正价值的更大图景。

While asset value can be easily defined, business value is a little more abstract and therefore harder for enterprises to understand.
虽然资产价值可以很容易地定义，但业务价值则更抽象一些，因此企业更难理解。

IT Business Value: A Major Shift in Thinking for CIOs IT业务价值:首席信息官思维的重大转变

Business value has long been the cornerstone(奠基石) of the entire technology practice but has only recently gained mainstream获得主流 attention thanks to the growing pace of digitalization. In fact, at least 84 percent of top CIOs surveyed in a recent Gartner study said they now have “responsibility for areas of the business outside of traditional IT, the most common being innovation and transformation.”
长期以来，业务价值一直是整个技术实践的基石，但由于数字化步伐的不断加快，业务价值最近才获得主流关注。事实上，在Gartner最近的一项研究中，至少84%的受访首席信息官表示，他们现在“负责传统IT之外的业务领域，最常见的是创新和转型。”

Overall, CIOs today must reinvest(再投资于) in new technologies and applications to drive more value. It’s no longer enough to just focus on cost-cutting initiatives. Not if they want to keep their jobs.
总的来说，今天的CIO们必须对新技术和应用进行再投资，以推动更多的价值。仅仅关注成本削减计划已经不够了。如果他们还想保住饭碗的话。

Other Key Determinants of the Business Value of IT IT商业价值的其他关键决定因素

There are three other drivers of the business value of IT as discussed below:
IT业务价值的其他三个驱动因素如下所述：

IT and Productivity
This one seems like a given. There are number of ways to impact productivity using technology.
When tasks can be automated, people who would normally accomplish those tasks in their day-to-day can focus on other key functions. This should result in greater all around productivity.
Automation is one way technology works hand and hand with productivity, but another way includes on-demand services that affect the timeliness of key business decisions. Cloud services and big data environments can also be used to unleash productivity.
Moreover, the shift to DevOps increases service delivery.
IT和生产力
这个似乎是理所当然的。有很多方法可以利用技术来影响生产力。
当任务可以自动化时，通常在日常工作中完成这些任务的人可以专注于其他关键功能。这应该会导致更大的全面生产力。
自动化是技术与生产力携手并进的一种方式，但另一种方式包括影响关键业务决策及时性的按需服务。云服务和大数据环境也可以用来释放生产力。
此外，向DevOps的转变增加了服务交付。

IT and Forging Competitive Advantages
Running the business is essential, growing the business is commendable but transforming the business is critical. This is not to say that business value does not exist at the first two levels. However, the third one is where IT leadership should not only be forward-thinking in determining the ways in which the business can leverage new technology that puts them ahead of the competition but also up to the task of presenting key metrics as they build a case for new investments.
IT与打造竞争优势
经营业务是必不可少的，发展业务是值得称赞的，但业务转型是至关重要的。这并不是说前两个层面不存在业务价值。然而，第三个问题是，IT领导者不仅应该具有前瞻性思维，确定企业可以利用新技术的方式，使他们在竞争中领先，而且还可以在为新投资建立案例时提出关键指标。

When to the Measure Business Value of IT
Measuring the business value of IT usually becomes important when discussing plans for new technology investments or determining budgets for ongoing support projects.
Though measuring business value is not something that can be done with a one-size-fits-all formula, the following tips can help you to understand where to begin when it comes to measuring the business value of your organization’s IT.
何时衡量IT的业务价值
在讨论新技术投资计划或确定正在进行的支持项目的预算时，衡量IT的业务价值通常变得很重要。
虽然衡量业务价值并不是一个通用的公式，但以下提示可以帮助您了解在衡量组织IT的业务价值时从哪里开始。

Understanding Key Definitions 理解关键定义

When making funding requests, it’s important to understand some basic definitions about IT business value.
在提出融资请求时，了解有关IT业务价值的一些基本定义非常重要。

Information Technology (IT): This refers to the entire department and not just hardware and software that is tangible and can be acquired. Funding IT means including the cost of transition, integration and services.
Money and Funding: Think of money in terms of measurement units. While describing business value is complex and may require an effort that includes text in the language of a funding document, don’t leave it up to stakeholders to interpret what that translates to in dollar amounts. Come up with ways to calculate the dollar amount required based on business value assessed.
Transactions and Services: Understand that these two things go hand-in-hand. A transaction is an exchange where something is delivered, and services are derived as a result. Both are required to measure the business value of IT.
Business-as-Usual vs Change: A particularly difficult thing to understand is that some of the business value of IT is just making sure the regular functioning of the organization maintains. It’s a challenge for CIOs to put business value behind staying the same. Nonetheless, business value comes down to two groups: operating or change.

Information Technology (IT): This refers to the entire department and not just hardware and software that is tangible and can be acquired. Funding IT means including the cost of transition, integration and services.
Money and Funding: Think of money in terms of measurement units. While describing business value is complex and may require an effort that includes text in the language of a funding document, don’t leave it up to stakeholders to interpret what that translates to in dollar amounts. Come up with ways to calculate the dollar amount required based on business value assessed.
Transactions and Services: Understand that these two things go hand-in-hand. A transaction is an exchange where something is delivered, and services are derived as a result. Both are required to measure the business value of IT.
Business-as-Usual vs Change: A particularly difficult thing to understand is that some of the business value of IT is just making sure the regular functioning of the organization maintains. It’s a challenge for CIOs to put business value behind staying the same. Nonetheless, business value comes down to two groups: operating or change.
**信息技术（IT）：**这是指整个部门，而不仅仅是有形的和可以获得的硬件和软件。为IT提供资金意味着包括过渡、集成和服务的成本。
**金钱和资金：**考虑金钱的度量单位。虽然描述业务价值是复杂的，可能需要包括资金文档语言的文本，但不要让利益相关者来解释它转化为美元金额。根据评估的业务价值，提出计算所需金额的方法。
**事务和服务：**理解这两件事是紧密联系在一起的。事务是一种交换，其中交付了一些东西，并作为结果派生出服务。这两者都是衡量IT业务价值所必需的。
常规业务VS变化：一个特别难以理解的事情是，IT的一些业务价值仅仅是确保组织的正常运作。对于首席信息官来说，将业务价值放在保持不变的背后是一个挑战。尽管如此，业务价值归结为两组：运营或变化。

Whether you are putting together a funding proposal for a new project or an ongoing one, the above definitions in the context of business value should make presenting your case a lot more straightforward.
Now, let’s look at some of the ways to measure the business value of IT projects:
无论您是在为一个新项目还是正在进行的项目准备一个资金提案，上面在业务价值上下文中的定义都应该使您的案例陈述更加简单明了。
现在，让我们来看看衡量IT项目业务价值的一些方法：

Assess Both the Strategic Value and Economic Value 评估战略价值和经济价值

Business value presents itself in two ways: strategic value and economic value. Economic value includes items that reduce cost or increase revenue. On the other hand, as the name suggests, strategic value deals in productivity enhancements, key differentiators that are included in your value proposition and customer satisfaction. Both are important considerations in measuring business value.
**商业价值有两种表现形式：战略价值和经济价值。**经济价值包括降低成本或增加收入的项目。另一方面，顾名思义，战略价值交易在生产力的提高，关键的差异化，包括在您的价值主张和客户满意度。两者都是衡量业务价值的重要考虑因素。

Optimize Investments by Lowering Operational Cost 通过降低运营成本优化投资

Drawing a parallel between the amount spent on IT and decreases in operational spending is a good way to come up with thresholds for optimizing IT investments. In doing so, you’ll be able to make a strong case for business value.
将IT支出与运营支出的减少进行比较是确定优化IT投资阈值的好方法。这样，你就能为商业价值提出强有力的理由。

Track Changes in Operations That Exceed KPIs 跟踪超出KPI的运营变更

The business value of IT is largely visible in operations. Improvements to efficiency, cost reduction and more should result in the organization meeting and exceeding established key performance indicators (KPIs). This offers a well of data to draw from when making a case for the business value of IT.
IT的业务价值在很大程度上体现在运营中。效率的提高、成本的降低以及其他方面的改进应该使组织达到并超过既定的关键绩效指标（KPI）。这为证明IT的业务价值提供了大量数据。

Compare Average Industry Spend 比较行业平均支出

Getting into financial and budgetary data when explaining the business value of IT to stakeholders can sometimes be a double-edged sword. IT spend can be pretty high for enterprises and oftentimes, comparing costs can bring to light other departments that receive less funding.
However, quantifying your enterprise IT spend against industry averages is generally an effective benchmark to use when making a case for business value. Most likely, if you’re investing in technology your competitors are too. With effective systems for mining data, this information can offer some explanation of business value with regard to average spend.
在向涉众解释IT的业务价值时，进入财务和预算数据有时是一把双刃剑。对于企业来说，IT支出可能相当高，而且通常情况下，比较成本可以发现其他部门获得的资金较少。
然而，在证明业务价值时，根据行业平均水平量化您的企业IT支出通常是一个有效的基准。最有可能的是，如果你在技术上投资，你的竞争对手也是如此。通过有效的数据挖掘系统，这些信息可以提供关于平均花费的业务价值的一些解释。

Should You Use ROI to Measure the Business Value of IT? 您是否应该使用ROI来衡量IT的业务价值？

Some business unit heads in large organizations still want to hear metrics that they are familiar with such like the return on investment (ROI) of the project. Calculations for net present value (NPV) and internal rate of return (IRR) usually get thrown into the mix when you go down this path.
While ROI is a more clear-cut metric to use in assessing transformative technology projects, it’s much harder to quantify the outcomes of projects that keep the business going since these are never about top line growth. As Gartner outlines, “They are about reducing costs, cutting price-to-performance ratios and lessening risk.”
Overall, IT leaders need to offer at least one compelling value statement that demonstrates a thorough understanding of business key business outcomes. This will make a significant difference in the technology organization being viewed as a strategic partner instead of just a cost center.
大型组织中的一些业务部门负责人仍然希望听到他们熟悉的度量标准，例如项目的投资回报率（ROI）。净现值（NPV）和内部收益率（IRR）的计算通常会在你这样做的时候被打乱。
虽然ROI在评估变革性技术项目时是一个更明确的指标，但要量化保持业务持续发展的项目的结果要困难得多，因为这些项目从来都不是关于收入增长的。正如Gartner概述的那样，“它们是关于降低成本、降低性价比和降低风险的。”
总的来说，IT领导者需要提供至少一个令人信服的价值陈述，以证明对业务关键业务成果的透彻理解。这将使技术组织被视为一个战略合作伙伴，而不仅仅是一个成本中心的显著差异。

Final Thoughts on the Business Value of IT 关于IT商业价值的最终思考

Making a case for business value of IT is challenging for even the most savvy CIO, but it’s an important concept to understand if your enterprise is going to keep moving forward with new technology and IT funding within the organization.
The ability to measure business value gives IT leverage to be a well-funded, fully operational department. In a climate where the bottom line is often the driving factor in business decisions, showing the big picture of what IT can accomplish in an organization is essential for establishing value with all key stakeholders.

即使对最精明的CIO来说，证明IT的业务价值也是一项挑战，但如果您的企业要在组织内利用新技术和IT资金不断向前发展，那么了解这一点是一个重要的概念。
衡量业务价值的能力使IT部门能够成为资金充足、全面运作的部门。在一个底线往往是业务决策的驱动因素的环境中，展示IT在组织中可以实现的目标对于与所有关键利益相关者建立价值至关重要。