Green Points™ provides a metric that allows you to both quantify and improve your understanding of the value embedded by maintenance and remediation activities. Together with Green Point Analysis, the method used to calculate green points, it recognises that the work done by some systems is of greater business benefit than that done by others. In doing so, it allows you to assess competing priorities in order to effectively direct the effort involved in system maintenance initiatives. In addition to this, green points allow you to track the performance and progress of projects using a metric other than the cost of undertaking the work.
The Importance of System Maintenance
The introduction of information systems can be an expensive undertaking. Given the sums involved, it is important to ensure this investment realises maximum benefit for your organisation. This requires effective IT systems management that includes a structured plan for system maintenance.
In addition to financial concerns, there are also less tangible considerations. Information systems are often integral to a customer’s experience of your organisation. In the digital age, they can be a customer’s only view on your company. Poorly-maintained, under-performing systems will have a detrimental effect on your organisation’s reputation and the company’s brand. Damage to company brand is likely to be longer lasting more difficult to recover from than the financial impact of a short-term system outage.
System maintenance and remediation is not a headline grabber, until the system in question fails. Whereas it might be easy to write a compelling business case for new features and functionality, it may be more difficult to secure the budget required to ensure existing systems run at their optimum. It is arguable however that the safeguarding of an organisation’s existing proposition is more important than extending it. It’s easy to forget the historical effort that went into building a business, but this will be significant and needs to be protected. Think of it like this, if implementing a new systems is an investment, then ensuring legacy systems are well-maintained is insurance. It’s also worth noting that investing in change is, by its nature, uncertain. Conversely, securing an appropriate level of funding for system maintenance work is about creating certainty.
The Benefits and Applications of Green Point Analysis
Green Point Analysis supports system maintenance and remediation activity by providing better understanding of the value they embed. It allows a quantitative assessment of maintenance options, which recognises the competing priorities of stakeholders across your organisation. For example, it can be utilised in renew or refurbish assessments or when build, buy or lease options are being considered. For lease, think Cloud. In addition to their many uses at project level, green points can also provide enterprise-level insight. If used consistently across a number of projects, they can be used to demonstrate incremental improvements resulting from adjustments in how maintenance work is progressed. Consistent application of the technique will also allow senior management to track that an appropriate level of investment is being directed to the maintenance of an organisation's business-critical systems.
For more examples of how green points can be used to benefit your organisation, see Green Points: The Definitive Guide.
If you would like some guidance on how Green Point Analysis can be integrated into your organisation’s information system management processes, then please contact us now.
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