Managing The Technology Portfolio Structure
Along with the obvious project benefits expected to be delivered by the App Dev teams, it is critical as a Financial Manager to understand how the work breaks down into components that are managed and tracked differently. Run-the-Bank versus Change-the-Bank is a term frequently used to categorize “keeping the lights on” versus delivery of major initiatives that change how the business operates (new products or services).
Finance, Strategy, and Control
The 3 major components of the organization are the people, the work, and the expense. The successful Business Manager will understand how these 3 parts relate and will operate at the center of the Venn diagram. It is here where one controls how the parts interact with each other.
For example, if resources are increased, how does this effect expenses and delivery? Onboarding staff in a low cost location will have less impact to expenses, but may negatively impact delivery times if teams are split up. It is important for strategy to be developed using this model to understand costs vs. benefits when making management decisions.
Trends and Variance Analysis
Managers many times will “park” money in their forecasts when they are under budget, or conversely, will artificially reduce forecasts to stay on budget when they are over. Monitoring the gap between YTD and FY variances will tell the true story of how the project/group is performing.
Dashboards and Scorecards
There are many valuable metrics across the 3 major components to keep in our sights. Deliverables, staffing levels, and project/group spend needs to be monitored to understand how the business is being managed. Scorecards are useful tools to quickly highlight items requiring management attention.
