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.6.2 Enterprise Asset ManagementNot only can assets get abandoned upon project completion or cancel-lation, but assets can get purchased that don t align with the corporatearchitecture.Economists refer to the assets that result from the combi-nation of these scenarios as stranded assets.Such assets both fail to con-tribute (they were abandoned) and fail to easily convert (they wereunaligned).Chapter 5 shows through the creation and maintenance ofan EIA team that new asset purchases can be screened before commit-ments are made.Such centralized screening allows the EIA team to rec-ommend abandoned asset conversions over new purchases.It also helpsthe EIA team ensure that assets continue to contribute in the face ofproject cancellations.For example, with more than one inventory sys-tem, too many personal computers can end up being purchased, dupli-cate licenses can be acquired, and old systems can end up collecting dust[4].Multiple inventory systems can also prevent efficient policing ofvendor leases and maintenance commitments to signed contracts.All ofthis ultimately can lead to a major loss of cost control.Regaining thiscontrol is an ideal opportunity for a central, independent group that hasclose ties to the creation and maintenance of the EIA.While the organization is gaining control of its asset costs, it alsoneeds to become aware of the dependencies between its enterprisearchitecture, its consolidated asset inventory, and any other assetAsset Management 147procurement and control processes.Figure 6.3 shows how the assetinventory is molded by both the EA (ideal) and siloed business units(nonideal) as well as how the EIA is restricted by existing assets and bydecisions made by out-of-touch business units.So, to increase the free-dom of the EIA team to influence the flexibility of the EIA-to-marketdynamics (3), restrictions need to be reduced (2).And by reducing theauthority of business units through a centralized asset management sys-tem, an organization can help eliminate those restrictions.(An ani-mated version of Figure 6.3 appears in the AARK ManagementPowerPoint presentation in the accompanying CD-ROM.)Market(3) MoldsEAEBA(3) MoldsStrategy(3) MoldsEIA(2) Restricts(2) Restricts(1) MoldsHRDistributedDistributedPurchasingInventoryand Control ProcessMarketingConsolidated ITDistributedDistributedAsset InventoryInventoryPurchasingand Control ProcessManufacturingDistributedDistributedInventoryPurchasingand Control ProcessFigure 6.3 Effects of distributed and consolidated asset inventories on theenterprise architecture.148 IT Project Portfolio ManagementA consolidated inventory system allows for improved EIA controland flexibility by reducing the imposed restrictions and the influencesof distributed inventories.As Chapter 4 showed, EIA flexibility ensuresEBA flexibility and, in turn, strategic flexibility.This IT flexibility chainnot only allows the company to more quickly adapt to market changes,it also supports the operational and financial goals of the various busi-ness units (see Appendix 6A for an example).While an IT PMO canprove it achieved these goals through before and after snapshots, howcan it show real reductions in cost?There are two ways an asset management team can prove that itsefforts add monetary value to the company: by realizing stranded assets(short term) and by increasing asset reuse (long term) (see Figure 6.4).With stranded assets tracked, more accurate balance sheet numbers canbe calculated.The asset management team needs to make sure thatsnapshots of before and after values are made to best illustrate its impacton the bottom line.Long-term asset management return can beattempted by converting stranded assets to reduce future and ongoingproject costs.This cost savings will only be realized in the long term,Long-Term ROIInterprojectHRReuse/LeverageDistributedDistributedPurchasingInventoryand Control ProcessMarketingDistributedDistributedConsolidated ITInventoryPurchasingAsset Inventoryand Control ProcessManufacturingShort-term ROIDistributed DistributedPurchasing InventoryIdentify Stranded Assetsand Control ProcessFigure 6.4 Long-term and short-term benefits of a consolidated IT assetinventory.Asset Management 149after the architecture team has been given access to a well-maintainedasset inventory system.However, such long-term benefits, though attractive and possible,can be elusive [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]