The business value of IT is a curious term. What’s more curious is why, it appears, IT is singled out when the question of business value comes up. Other departments don’t seem to get the same scrutiny when it comes to providing value. Is it because those departments are inherently thought of as providing value, or is it that those departments are deemed necessary to the proper functioning of the company so questions of value don’t matter? The term "business value of IT" has many thoughts and interpretations and is a surprisingly complicated and touchy subject, but one thing is clear-it is important at the very least to understand whether there is such a thing as IT business value.
Yet, we can’t truly answer this question when there is very little understanding of the inner workings of the IT department. How can we derive value, from a position of being uninformed? Bluntly speaking, if your understanding of something is limited, how can a question of value, relevance, or importance find an answer with any type of confidence?
From the unique viewpoint of IT Operations, The Production Environment, tackles this question that can’t seem to find an answer.