Cutting the cost of IT Operations

Once Development was the epicenter of IT, then Operations was. Now it is Service. Soon it will be Governance.

Operations is a commoditised domain now: people increasingly buy on price. Antivirus is a commodity. So is backup. So is much of the hardware. Watch what open source software does to systems and network management, media management and a bunch of ther software types. CIOs want to spend their money on an ITIL project, ISO20000 certification, SOX compliance, COBIT audit, Project Management Office, CMDB, and a Balanced Scorecard Dashboard. Funds for IT Operations are limited: it is all about cutting costs now, or soon will be.

So OPS4LESS is gathering ideas, techniques, and reviews to help that cost-cutting process along

"Better" is a useful by-product. "Cheaper" is our goal

I don't need to use the "R" word to emphasise the increased relevance of this site in the current economic climate.

What it needs is input from all you readers to add ideas, and debate and improve the ones that are there. In response to discussion on this blog, the content is open to all who register.

There are dozens of hints and suggestions there now, structured around a "PAID" model

Ops4Less presents our model for the four primary aspects of IT Operations costs control: P A I D. Consider this the "balanced scorecard" for cutting the cost of Ops. Measure these four quadrants and look for savings in each, for getting P A I D.

P A I D ™ stands for People, Activity, Investment, and Dealing.
Of course every organisation is different. Just like Balanced Scorecard, you will put your own emphasis on some areas more than others.

People

Get the right people, get the people right

□ Recruitment
□ Culture
□ Motivation
□ Evaluation

Activity

Do the right things, do things right

□ Planning
□ Process
□ Measurement
□ Improvement

Investment

Spend to save money, save money on spending

□ Hardware
□ Software
□ Services
□ Projects

Dealing

Manage the business, the business of managing money

□ Funding
□ Consumption control
□ Outsourcing
□ Revenue

Take a look and contribute what you can to develop a free and open online reference on cutting the cost of IT Operations

Disclosure: it's my website

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