Glossary

Benefits Management

The process of organizing and managing such that the potential benefits arising from the use of IS/IT are actually realized.

Benefit owner

An individual or group who will gain advantage from a business benefit and who will work with the project team to ensure that benefit is realized.

Benefit streams

A set of related benefits and their associated business and enabling changes and enabling IS/IT.

Business benefit

An advantage on behalf of a particular stakeholder or group of stakeholders.

Business changes

The new ways of working that are required to ensure that the desired benefits are realized.

Business and organizational drivers

Views held by senior managers as to what is important to the business–in a given timescale–such that they feel changes must occur.

Change owner

An individual or group who will ensure that a business or enabling change identified is successfully achieved.

Enabling changes

Changes that are prerequisites for achieving the business changes or that are essential to bring the system into effective operation within the organization.

Financial benefit

By applying a cost/price or other valid financial formula to a quantifiable benefit a financial value can be calculated.

Investment objectives

Organizational targets for achievement agreed for the investment in relation to the drivers. As a set they are essentially a description of what the situation should be on completion of the investment.

IS/IT enablers

The information systems and technology required to support the realization of the identified benefits and to allow the necessary changes to be undertaken.

Measurable benefit

This aspect of performance is currently being measured or an appropriate measure could be implemented. But it is currently not possible to estimate by how much performance will improve when the changes are completed.

Observable benefit

By use of agreed criteria, specific individuals/groups will decide, based on their experience or judgement, to what extent the benefit has been realized.

Quantifiable benefit

Sufficient evidence exists to forecast how much improvement/benefit should result from the changes.

Stakeholder(s)

An individual or group of people who will benefit from the investment or are either directly involved in making or are affected by the changes needed to realize the benefits.

Why, what and how of a potential investment

Why is the investment being made – why does the organization need to change and how critical to its future is the successful management of the changes? What types of benefit is the organization expecting to achieve by making the changes – to reduce costs, improve operational performance, gain new customers, create a new capability etc.? How can a combination of IT and business changes deliver those benefits at an acceptable level of risk?