* Microsoft releases Rapid Economic Justification Guide
One of the hardest parts of any IT manager’s job is trying to convince the CXOs that it’s a good idea to spend a bunch of money on a technology project. Microsoft wants to help. Not only because it’s likely that anyone reading this newsletter would be looking to fund a technology project based on Microsoft software, but also because (I’m surmising) by helping you solve a major non-technical problem, your image of the company might change. “Beast of Redmond” is one of the frequent pejorative names associated with the company and one of the few that I can use if I don’t want this newsletter blocked by your smut filters.
As I said, Microsoft wants to help, so it has released the Rapid Economic Justification (REJ) Guide and an accompanying REJ worksheet to collect data. Microsoft describes REJ as a tool that: “simplifies the process of effectively researching, preparing, and presenting your project analysis into manageable, easy-to-follow steps-whether you create the necessary reports and presentation yourself or you enlist a Microsoft partner to help you.” (Ah, a bit of a sop for the long suffering vendors that actually sell and support the Microsoft products!)
Joking aside, though, REJ can make your presentation more effective. It isn’t enough to identify the problem as well as the solution – you need to make the case for spending a finite number of dollars on your project rather than on something the marketing department wants. Among the things you’ll find in the guide are:
* The steps required to verify and demonstrate that your proposal aligns with your organization’s overall business strategies and goals.
* Easy-to-use tools and techniques designed to assess your project’s financial impact.
* A six-step economic justification process that walks you through financial analytics ranging from cash flows to returns on investment scenarios.
* Worksheets, tables, and a project schedule that you can use to research, create, and present your IT analytics and reports to senior management.
* A preview checklist you can use to collect feedback about your project findings before you go live with your presentation.
* Listings of additional books and online resources that may assist you in making your business case.
It’s hard getting budget approval for the things you know your organization really needs so why not get all the help that you can? Download the Guide https://download.microsoft.com/download/d/5/9/d59bf238-969a-4167-8203-90348e0e2628/REJ_Enterprise.pdf,) and the data collection worksheet ,(https://download.microsoft.com/download/2/2/9/2294be6d-3973-4221-b770-2e08c4bfd2c9/REJ_Workbook_DataColl.xls and start planning your next project right now.
