WO2002027605A1

WO2002027605A1 - Process for alignment of requests for information technology services

Info

Publication number: WO2002027605A1
Application number: PCT/US2001/029961
Authority: WO
Inventors: Robert M. Kaufman; Kathleen Fields Hunderup
Original assignee: Ge Financial Assurance Holdings, Inc.
Priority date: 2000-09-29
Filing date: 2001-09-26
Publication date: 2002-04-04
Also published as: AU2001294702A1

Abstract

The system and process (10) of the present invention provide the ability to objectively prioritize a variety of information technology related requests of a large business organization based on the strategic goals of the business organization to thereby increase productivity of individual business units of the business organization by allowing the units to allocate their resources to the requests with the highest strategic business priority. The present invention provides a system and method for gathering fact-based data in a consistent and logical manner to prepare requests for service (12) for prioritization, reviewing the requests for service based on the fact-based data (13), calculating a priority weight score for each request for service, and authorizing the requests (14).

Description

PROCESS FOR ALIGNMENT OF REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SERVICES

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a multi-step process for evaluating information technology service requests using an objective, fact-based weighting tool. More specifically, the present invention relates to a process for aligning information technology service requests with the strategic goals of the business organization and prioritizing the requests using an objective, fact-based weighting tool.

2. Brief Description of the Prior Art

Good resource management is an important factor contributing to the success of an information technology service department. In large business organizations, numerous different business units may make requests for information technology services. Resource assignment and scheduling problems often lead to the starting, stopping and cancellation of information technology service projects leading to high levels of lost productivity. Generally, a large business organization will generate a vast number of different requests for information technology services based on the particular needs of various business units within the business organization. Unless the information technology service department has unlimited resources, these different requests require evaluation, prioritization, assignment, and scheduling by the information technology service department. Since these different requests for information technology services come from a variety of different business units, it is difficult to prioritize these requests due to a lack of sufficient information, a lack of criteria for comparing the importance of the various different requests for information technology services and a lack of familiarity with the particular needs of the business unit making a particular request for information technology services. In addition, since each business unit may develop a unique set of criteria for evaluation of a priority of a request for information technology services, it is often difficult to compare requests from different business units in a meaningful way in order to assign priorities for the entire business organization. As a result, prioritization of such different requests for information technology services may be done in a less than ideal manner leading to high levels of lost productivity. In addition, it is desirable to determine whether the requests for information technology services from the business units align with the strategic goals of the business organization. In order to accomplish this, it is important to understand how each request for service relates to the overall goals and objectives of the business organization to thereby ensure that the information technology service department works toward these overall goals and objectives of the business organization.

As a result, there is a need to develop a process for providing one or more fact- based, objective outputs which enable an information technology service department to understand how each request for information technology services aligns with the business organization's overall goals and objectives so that the various requests for information technology services proposed by the different business units can be selected and, if appropriate, prioritized. As a result of this process, resources can be directed to the most important requests for information technology services which comport with the overall strategic goals and objectives of the business organization. There is also a need to implement the process for selecting and prioritizing information technology service requests using a computerized database and/or software application so that a common process can be employed throughout all of the different business units of the entire business organization in order to develop a consistent set of outputs which can be used to compare, select and prioritize from among all of the information technology service requests.

Various embodiments of the present invention are directed to solving one or more of the foregoing problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the shortcomings of existing processes for selecting and prioritizing among a plurality of information technology service requests, the present invention is directed to a system and process for the strategic selection and prioritization of a request for information technology services using a fact-based, objective weighting tool. As will be described herein, the system and process of the present invention provide the ability to objectively prioritize the variety of needs of a large business organization based on the strategic goals and objectives of the business organization to thereby provide better information technology services by allocating available resources to requests for information technology services with a highest strategic priority. In this manner, the information technology service department can better serve a large business organization by improving utilization of active time, concentrating on the most important requests for information technology services and minimizing the number of ongoing information technology service projects which are canceled or delayed. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows and other features and advantages will be apparent from the detailed description or may be learned by practice of the invention.

To achieve the foregoing advantages, as broadly embodied and described herein, the present invention provides a system and process for handling a request for information technology services within a business organization based on a predetermined set of strategic goals of the business organization , the process comprising the steps of preparing the request for information technology services for a prioritization decision including at least a sub-step of preparing one or more common templates for the request for information technology services, the one or more common templates including fact- based content relating the request for information technology services to the predetermined set of strategic goals of the business organization; calculating a priority weight score based at least in part on the fact-based content; reviewing the fact-based content of the one or more common templates and the priority weight score; prioritizing the request for information technology services relative to one or more other requests for information technology services based at least in part on the fact-based content of the common templates and the priority weight score; and implementing the request for information technology services and the one or more other requests for information technology services in the order of their prioritization.

It is to be understood that the foregoing general description of the invention and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not to be restrictive of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a flow chart illustrating the steps performed in one embodiment of a process for alignment of information technology service requests in accordance with the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a sample form for use in submitting a request for information technology services utilizing an embodiment of the process of the present invention. Fig. 3 is a sample cost/benefit worksheet which may be used to determine information to be included in the sample submission form of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a sample benefits worksheet which may be used to help complete the benefits section of the cost/benefit worksheet depicted in Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a sample priority weight worksheet which may be used to determine information to be included in the sample submission form of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a sample sign off worksheet which may be used by a business unit to sign off on a request for information technology services.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of an embodiment of a system for implementation of the process of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is a block diagram illustrating certain functions performed by one embodiment of a system for implementation of the process of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the art, given the description of the invention herein will recognize the utility of the system and process of the present invention and in a variety of diverse business environments in which strategic alignment and prioritization of service requests is required. For example, the system and process of the present invention may be adapted for use in the strategic alignment and prioritization of information technology service requests, as well as in other functional areas of a large business organization. However, for ease of description, the present invention will be described in the context of an information technology service environment.

The system and process of the present invention is described together herein. The process can be implemented as a series of operations performed by the system. Fig. 1 is a functional block diagram illustrating the steps performed during the conduct of a high- level strategic request for service process in accordance with one embodiment of the invention. As shown in Fig. 1, the request for service process 10 includes a plurality of high-level tasks including a step 12 of submitting a request for information technology services, a step 13 of analyzing the submitted request for information technology services, a step 14 of authorizing the submitted request for information technology services, a step 15 of reviewing the authorized request for information technology services, a step 16 of prioritizing the authorized request for information technology services and a step 17 of communicating the authorized request for information technology services.

The process 10 is geared towards aligning a plurality of information technology service requests with a plurality of strategic goals and objectives of a large business organization having a plurality of business units. Thus, before implementation of the process 10, the strategic goals and objectives of the business organization need to be identified so that these strategic goals and objectives can be employed to align and prioritize the plurality of information technology service requests submitted by the plurality of business units or a plurality of partners. It is also useful to ensure that any decision maker who will ultimately make the prioritization decisions concerning the plurality of information technology service requests is a person in a leadership position that is directly involved in setting the strategic goals of the business organization.

The initial step 12 of the process 10 of the present invention involves submitting a request for information technology services. In order to carry out this step 12, a business unit or a partner submitting the request for information technology services must first identify a need for information technology services at a sub-step 20. Once the need for information technology services is identified at sub-step 20, the submitting business unit or the submitting partner should check for any duplicate requests for information technology services at a sub-step 21 to prevent submission of a plurality of requests for the same information technology services. Assuming that the submitted request for information technology services is not a duplicate of another submitted request for information technology services and that a need for the request for information technology services has been identified at sub-step 20, a plurality of next sub-steps in the process 10 include a sub-step 22 to initiate the request for information technology services and a sub-step 23 to complete a form for the submission of the request for information technology services including completion of a cost/benefit worksheet. The request for information technology services is preferably reviewed and approved for submission by a leader or a manager of a business unit submitting the request for information technology services, or another person at a comparable management level, or a designee thereof, to ensure that the management of the business unit supports the request for information technology services. Also, an information technology strategic planning representative or a designee thereof should review and approve the request for information technology services prior to submission to the information technology department for selection and prioritization.

A sample form for submission of a request for information technology services is depicted in Fig. 2. This submission form can be implemented as part of a system for implementation of the process 10, preferably using a computerized system or network. A preferred submission form for submission of a request for information services may include up to seven worksheets comprised of any combination of an instructions worksheet, a cost/benefit worksheet, an assumptions worksheet, a priority weight worksheet, a comments worksheet and a sign off worksheet. The requester should complete the submission form for the request for information technology services and certain portions of the cost/benefit worksheet prior to consultation with the information technology strategic planning representative in order to facilitate completion of the entirety of the cost/benefit worksheet.

Referring to Fig. 2, the submission form for the request for information technology services may include a plurality of common information fields to ensure that a certain, minimum amount of common, fact-based information is provided for each request for information technology services. The information provided in the submission form for the request of information technology services will be used as a basis for comparison of a plurality of various requests for information technology services submitted to the information technology department. The submission form in Fig. 2 requires identification of a cost center for which the information technology services requested in the submission form are to be performed, a name, a department and other contact information for a person submitting the request for information technology services, and a date by which the person requires that the requested information technology services be completed.

In addition, the submission form in Fig. 2 requires a justification for the date by which the requested information technology services are to be completed, i.e., a regulatory compliance requirement, a business conservation requirement, a business plan requirement, etc. The submission form should also include information about a request type which indicates how the request for information technology services is to be processed. Suggested request types include a preliminary request type if the request for information technology services is to be employed for an information technology strategy and plan analysis and an express request type if the request for information technology services must be immediately completed and cannot wait to go through a prioritization process.

The submission form for the request for information technology services may also indicate whether the request for information technology services is being made as part of a specific application development task, for a new product or for some other reason. A requirements/objectives section of the submission form depicted in Fig. 2 is employed to provide a complete description of a nature and a purpose for the request for information technology services. The submission form should also include any explanatory attachments which may be necessary for a full understanding of the request for information technology services.

The submission form in Fig. 2 may also require an indication of a business purpose which will be accomplished by fulfillment of the request for information technology services. A total cost estimate and a dollar amount of a benefit that fulfillment of the request for information technology services will provide to the business organization may also be automatically input into the submission form from the cost/benefit worksheet as described below. The submission form should also include an indication that the request for information technology services is authorized by the leader of the submitting business unit. Finally, an important feature of the submission form shown in Fig. 2 is a weight to be assigned to the request for information technology services (the "request weight"), which is a relative weight of the request for information technology services based on a plurality of prioritization factors which will be described below in regard to the priority weight worksheet. The request weight reflects an objective analysis of a value of the request for information technology services to the business organization, as well as an alignment of the request for information technology services with the business organization's strategic goals and can be used as one factor in determining whether to approve the request for information technology services and in assigning a priority to that request for information technology services. Use of a plurality of sample worksheets may facilitate provision of more accurate information on the submission form depicted in Fig. 2. The plurality of worksheets include the cost/benefit worksheet as shown in Fig. 3, a benefits worksheet as shown in Fig. 4, and a priority weight worksheet as shown in Fig. 5. These sample worksheets will be described in detail below to exemplify one embodiment of the system and process of the present invention. ''

Referring now to Fig. 3, the cost/benefit worksheet may be divided into five sections. Section A is a benefits section. Section B is a section for providing an estimate of hours required to complete the requested information technology services project. Section C is a section to be used for any notes and comments and should be employed to mention any special considerations to be taken into account in the cost/benefit analysis as well as for providing a basis for any estimates made in preparing the cost/benefit analysis. Section D is used to provide an indication of a strategic alignment of the request for information technology services with the strategic priorities of the business organization as well as to provide a compliance factor for the request for information technology services, if applicable. Section E is used to evaluate any business risks and any cost avoidance factors which may be influenced by fulfillment of the request for information technology services. ,

Section A of the cost/benefit worksheet shown in Fig. 3 is best completed with reference to a benefits worksheet such as that shown in Fig. 4. Completion of Section A provides an estimate of a plurality of benefits resulting from implementation of the request for information technology services that will impact upon a net income of the business unit or the business organization, including any cost reduction and/or any cost elimination and/or any increased revenues. Section A is also used to provide a net income cost/benefit which may be used as one of the priority weighting factors in the priority weight worksheet of Fig. 5.

Section B of the cost/benefit worksheet shown in Fig. 3 is to be completed jointly by the submitting business unit and the information technology department since the information required to complete this Section B must be obtained from both entities. In this manner, a realistic cost/benefit analysis for each request for information technology services can be developed.

The first part of Section B of the cost/benefit worksheet is an estimate of effort which will be required to implement the request for information technology services. This first part requires a listing of a number of man hours to be expended by the information technology department in implementing and testing the implementation of the request for information technology services, a cost per hour and a total cost for implementation of the request for information technology services, for information technology software assurance, and for information technology operations. A number of hours required for each one of a plurality of steps in the implementation of the request for information technology services are then added to provide a total number of hours required for the information technology department to complete the implementation and testing of the request for information technology services. This total number of hours forms one of the factors used in the priority weight worksheet of Fig. 5 to provide the priority weight for the submission form in Fig. 2. One or more guidelines may be promulgated within the business organization for the purpose of determining an appropriate number of man hours to allocate to a particular request for information technology services. Such guidelines will vary from business organization to business organization.

A separate part of Section B of the cost/benefit worksheet is set aside for an estimate of a cost for implementation of the request for information technology services by the business unit submitting the request for information technology services. This estimate should include an estimate of any training costs associated with such implementation.

Finally, Section B of the cost/benefit worksheet includes a part entitled "New Equipment Costs" to be completed by the information technology department for provision of an estimate of all non-labor costs associated with the implementation of the request for information technology services. A total first year cost for the request for information technology services is obtained by adding the request effort total calculated in the first part of Section B and the new equipment costs calculated in the last part of Section B of the cost/benefit worksheet. Optionally, the cost/benefit worksheet may include cost information for additional years which can be completed for long-term information technology service projects or if recurring annual costs for implementation of a short term information technology service project are anticipated.

Section D of the cost/benefit worksheet depicted in Fig. 2 relates to two of the weighting factors used in the priority weight worksheet of Fig. 5. First, in the example shown, six strategic goals of the business organization are listed. Each one of these six strategic goals which would be furthered by implementation of the request for information technology services should be indicated by placing a check in a box next to the stated strategic goal. In the example given, the six strategic goals may include any one or more of a strategic initiative, a growth plan, a solution to a problem, a competitiveness goal, a oneness goal and a foundation goal. Each of these goals is a long-term strategic goal of the business organization. The sum of the boxes checked is used as one of the weighting factors on the priority weight worksheet of Fig. 5 to provide, an indication of the degree of alignment of the request for information technology services with the strategic goals of the business organization. It should be noted, however, that the six strategic goals listed are illustrative only. Strategic goals will vary based upon the specific business organization implementing the process of the invention. Moreover, strategic goals may also be revised periodically by a business organization.

Section D of the cost/benefit worksheet also provides an opportunity to indicate a compliance factor of the request for information technology services. This compliance factor will default to a zero value and the default zero value should only be changed with an approval of a compliance officer of the business organization. The compliance factor is also used as a weighting factor in the priority weight worksheet depicted in Fig. 5.

Section E of the cost/benefit worksheet of Fig. 3 provides an indication of any business risks and cost avoidance factors which may be impacted by implementation of the request for information technology services. The business risks and the cost avoidance factors represent an estimate of an impact and any costs which would result if the request for information technology services were not fulfilled or, in other words, any costs savings or other savings which will be realized through implementation of the request for information technology services.

Another important piece of information contained in Section E of the cost/benefit worksheet is a pay back period. The pay back period represents a number of months which will elapse before any total benefit resulting from implementation of the request for information technology services surpasses a total cost incurred. The pay back period is also employed as one of the weighting factors in the priority weight worksheet of Fig. 5. The sample benefits worksheet depicted in Fig. 4 may be useful when considering any possible benefits from implementation of the request for information technology services. The benefits worksheet of Fig. 4 may be employed as a checklist to ensure that at least one or more most important potential benefits which could be realized by implementation of the request for information technology services are fully considered. The sample benefits worksheet preferably lists a number of benefit types and a number of benefit opportunities so that the person submitting the request for information technology services can identify all of the potential benefits for the business organization.

The exemplary priority weight worksheet depicted in Fig. 5 contains information which will enable any decision maker to align and prioritize the plurality of submitted requests for information technology services. The priority weight worksheet of Fig. 5 may be used as a guideline to provide an initial prioritization of an incoming request for information technology services. A priority weight is automatically assigned to a request for information technology services based on information entered in the cost benefit worksheet. A priority weight assigned to a particular request for information technology services may vary depending upon the strategic goals of the business organization, the relative importance of each weighting factor and for other reasons. This flexibility enables each business organization to develop a customized priority weight worksheet suitable for the needs of that business organization.

A weighting score may be calculated by multiplying a scale weight times a weight given to a particular weighting factor for each of the plurality of weighting factors and summing a total weight for each weighting factor to provide a priority weight score for the request for information technology services. Numerous different strategic factors may be included in the priority weight worksheet. Exemplary strategic factors include a strategic fit of the request for information technology services with the plurality of strategic goals of the business organization, a contribution of the request for information technology services to a net income of the business organization, a compliance factor to reflect a potential need for implementation of a particular request for information technology services in order to comply with one or more regulatory requirements, a business risk factor which accounts for any risks and any costs which will be avoided by implementation of the request for information technology services, the pay back period as described above and the total number of man hours required to implement the request for information technology services and other similar strategic factors. It should be understood that strategic factors can vary on a business organization by business organization basis. The prioritization process 10 may also include a step for determining whether a particular request for information technology services should receive special treatment whereby it may skip over one or more of the above-described steps in the prioritization process 10. For example, if the request for information technology services is necessary to accomplish a critical operation or a critical function of the business organization, the request for information technology services may be assigned a higher priority and/or be permitted to skip over all or a part of the above-described steps in the prioritization process 10. Other potential criteria for special treatment may be that a failure to implement the request for information technology services may prevent accomplishment of a non-critical operation or a non-critical function of the business organization, or may adversely affect accomplishment of an operation or a function of the business organization and no alternative workaround exists.

This additional step to determine whether special treatment is to be given to a particular request for information technology services may evaluate a severity of the need for special treatment, as described above, as well as an urgency with which implementation of the request for information technology services is required and any potential impact of the implementation or non-implementation of the request for information technology services on the business organization. The potential impact of the implementation or non-implementation of the request for information technology services may be measured by, for example, whether the implementation or non-implementation of the request for information technology services will affect an entire site or a large proportion of a client base of the business organization.

Once a priority weight is assigned to the request for information technology services, the submission step 12 of the process 10 is completed and the analysis step 13 begins. The analysis step 13 starts with the business unit submitting the request for information technology services validating the priority score assigned to the submitted request for information technology services at a sub-step 30, for example, by placing the newly-submitted request for information technology services among the other requests for information technology services submitted by the same business unit and determining whether the business unit agrees with the priority assigned to the newly-submitted request for information technology services, relative to the other submitted requests for information technology services. For example, if the newly-submitted request for information technology services has a priority weight score of 90 and the business unit believes that the importance of that newly-submitted request for information technology services is greater than another previously-submitted request for information technology services that has a priority weight score of 100, the business unit can reevaluate the newly-submitted request for information technology services to ensure that the submitted information for that newly-submitted request for information technology services is complete and that the priority weight score assigned to that newly-submitted request for information technology services is accurate. The business unit can also reevaluate the previously-submitted request for information technology services to validate the accuracy of any information submitted in reference to that previously-submitted request for information technology services. Or, alternatively, the business unit can propose one or more changes to the priority weighting factors to obtain a new prioritization of the strategic goals of the business organization and/or a new methodology to employ to evaluate the alignment of the request for information technology services. Once the business unit validates the priority score assigned to the submitted request for information technology services at sub-step 30, the process 10 proceeds to the authorization step 14 where the submitted request for information technology services is authorized by the leader of the business unit submitting the request for information technology services at a sub-step 40. For this purpose, the sign off approval space depicted in Fig. 2 may be used. The process 10 then loops back to the analysis step 13 for analysis of the submitted request for information technology services by the information technology department. The information technology department receives and reviews the submitted request for information technology services at a sub-step 31, and, then at a sub- step 32, determines if the information provided concerning the submitted request for information technology services is complete in accordance with the plurality of requirements described above and, if so, quantifies a cost for the cost/benefit analysis at a sub-step 33. If the information provided for the submitted request for information technology services does not meet all of the plurality of requirements at sub-step 32, the information technology department routes the submitted request for information technology services back to the submission step 12 for completion of any required information by the business unit at sub-step 23 and the process 10 then continues from there as described above. Once the cost for the request for information technology services is quantified at sub-step 33, the request for information technology services is entered into a request inventory database at a sub-step 34 by the information technology department thereby completing the authorization step 14. The process 10 then continues to the review step 15 where the request for information technology services is submitted to the decision maker(s) for a prioritization decision.

The review step 15 may begin with a sub-step 40 whereby a leader of an information technology work management group handles any preparation that must be done prior to submission of the request for information technology services to the decision maker(s) that will review the requests for information technology services.

Thereafter, at a sub-step 41, the leader of the information technology work management group will review the information included in the request for information technology services and will determine whether there are any errors in the information. If there are errors in the information discovered at sub-step 41, the leader of the information technology work management group will adjust the request inventory database to correct the errors at a sub-step 43 and will return to sub-step 40 to handle any remaining preparation work to be completed.

If at sub-step 42 it is determined instead that there are no errors in the information, the leader of the information technology work management group will append a cover letter and an agenda to the information included with the submitted request for information technology services at a sub-step 44 and will then distribute the information, the cover letter and the agenda to the decision maker(s) at a sub-step 45. The packet of information given to the decision maker(s) at sub-step 45 may include an indication as to whether a particular submitted request for information technology services is new, a unique request number, a brief description of the request for information technology services, a status of the request for information technology services and a date the request for information technology services was received by the information technology department. The status of the request for information technology services is important since the decision maker(s) will review not only new requests for information technology services but also any ongoing requests for information technology services at various stages of completion. Thus, a degree to which a particular request for information technology services has already been implemented can be an important factor in the prioritization decision.

The information packet given to the decision maker(s) at sub-step 45 also includes the information pertaining to the various weighting factors from the request form, i.e., the strategic fit of the request for information technology services with the strategic goals of the business organization, any contribution to net income which may be realized by the implementation of the request for information technology services, the compliance factor, the business risk assessment, the pay back period, and the number of man hours to complete the implementation and testing of the request for information technology services. Also, the total cost to implement the request for information technology services is provided to the decision maker(s) at sub-step 45.

In a sub-step 46, the decision maker(s) then review the packet of information received from the leader of the information technology work management group to prepare for a meeting to discuss decisions. At the meeting of the decision makers, the packet of information for each request for information technology services is considered and prioritization decisions are made. This completes the review step 15.

The next step in the process 10 is the prioritization step 16. The prioritization step 16 begins with the prioritization decisions made by the decision makers at their meeting as described above. These prioritization decisions are evaluated to determine if there are any additions or changes to a priorities list of the information technology department at a sub-step 50. If there are no changes or additions to the priorities list of the information technology department at sub-step 50, the prioritization step 16 is completed and the results of the meeting of the decision makers are distributed in the communication step 17 to the decision makers and a plurality of resource managers. However, if there are additions or changes to the priorities list of the information technology department at sub-step 50, these additions and/or changes are recorded by the leader of the information technology work management group at a sub-step 51. The decision makers review the updated priorities list at a sub-step 52 and must either approve or disapprove the updated priorities list at a sub-step 53. If the updated priorities list is not deemed acceptable at sub-step 53, the updated priorities list is returned to the leader of the information technology work management group with further any changes to be recorded at sub-step 50 and sub-steps 50-53 are reiterated until the updated priorities list is deemed acceptable at sub-step 53.

Once the updated priorities list is approved at sub-step 53, the leader of the information technology work management group adjusts the requests inventory database at a sub-step 54 and runs a printout of the results of the meeting of the decision makers including the request inventory database at a sub-step 55 and reviews the information associated with the request for information technology services at a sub-step 56. If the leader of the information technology work management group determines that there are errors in the information associated with the request for information technology services at a sub-step 57, sub-steps 54-57 are re-performed until the information is correct. Once the information associated with the request for information technology services is determined to be correct at sub-step 57, the prioritization step 16 is complete and the updated information including the updated list of requests for information technology services is distributed to the decision makers and the resource managers at a sub-step 60 of the communication step 17.

In another aspect, the present invention relates to a system 90 for implementation of the process 10. Referring now to Fig. 6, a perspective view of an embodiment of the system 90 is shown. System 90 may include a microprocessor-based computer 92 preferably provided with a microprocessor such as a Pentium® brand microprocessor or another suitable microprocessor housed in a suitable computer 92. Computer 92 is preferably capable of executing a plurality of suitable software applications for implementation of the various forms and worksheets described above, such as a suitable spreadsheet or a database software application. Computer 92 will include one or more components such as an internal hard drive or another suitable memory device, one or more disc drives for uploading and/or downloading software applications and data, and a display 94 which may include a graphical user interface (GUI).

Computer 92 may receive input from an input device 96, which may be any number of suitable input devices such as a mouse, a light pen, a touch pad, a roller ball, and other suitable input devices, and the computer 92 may also receive input from a keyboard 98. Computer 92 is further programmable to provide for data presentation and analysis according to the process 10 of the present invention. Computer 92 may be connected to a network 99 such that the software applications and data employed in the process 10 can be uploaded to, or downloaded from, the network 99 for use by different persons in the same business organization. One software application which may be adapted to operate in connection with the system 90 of the present invention is a Microsoft Access® software application whereby a database 100 can be created in which each of the plurality of form and worksheet templates described above can be saved as well as completed forms and worksheets for later retrieval.

In its simplest form, the system 90 employs the database 100 as a repository of the forms and worksheets required to perform the process 10 of the present invention. In this embodiment, system 90 employs one or more templates selected from the submission form, the cost/benefit worksheet, the benefit worksheet, the priority weight worksheet, the sign off worksheet, a project status template for active projects, and a project status template for completed projects. Other, suitable form and worksheet templates may also be employed in connection with system 90 in addition to those listed above.

The system 90 provides a standard set of templates for the forms and worksheets to ensure that those persons involved in carrying out the process 10 within the business organization will be able to focus on the content of each deliverable form or worksheet rather than the format of the deliverable form or worksheet. Another benefit of the system 90 is that it may be employed to provide easy access to the completed documentation for a particular request for information technology services. For this purpose, each request for information technology services may be assigned its own subdirectory in the database 100 and the sub-directory may reside on a server for the network 99 to make it accessible to those persons with access to the network 99.

As shown in Fig. 8, the database 100 of the system 90 may be provided with one or more of a plurality of high level function options including a view an existing form or worksheet for a request for information technology services option or an edit an existing form or worksheet for a request for information technology services option 101, an add a new request for information technology services option 102, a maintain a database option 103 and an exit a database option 104. To add a new request for information technology services, a name is assigned to the request for information technology services at a step 105 by a user. At a step 106, the database 100 retrieves the templates for the forms and worksheets described above that are required for that particular request for information technology services as preset by a database administrator using the maintain the database option 103.

Once a new request for information technology services has been added to the database 100, the documents relating to that new request for information technology services may be password protected so that only persons with authorization may retrieve such documents or, alternatively, a plurality of differing levels of access rights may be given to a plurality of different persons for each request for information technology services. Such differing levels of access rights are preferably defined in relation to a role that a particular person will play with respect to that request for information technology services. Thus, for a new request for information technology services, at a step 107, the database 100 may require the user to input a list of names of various persons who will be assigned a role for that request for information technology services. The level of access rights to the database 100 for a particular person is then determined at a step 108, for example, by determining a level of access needed by that particular person to fulfill that particular person's role with respect to the request for information technology services. For example, a manager for the request for information technology services will likely need to be able to input data to the various document templates in the database 100 and thus will be permitted sufficient access rights to the database 100 in order to edit the various document templates. Exemplary roles for persons which can be input into the database 100 for a particular request for information technology services may include a "champion" or a supporter, a coach, a compliance representative, a manager, a process owner, a quality leader, a tollgate review member, and other suitable roles. Other suitable roles may be devised for each request for information technology services depending upon the persons needed to complete the process 10 for that particular request for information technology services.

At a step 109, an indication of a status of the request for information technology services may also be input into the database 100. A plurality of potential options for indicating the status of the request for information technology services in the process 10 as described above, may include, for example, a "pending approval" status, an "in preparation" status, an "approved" status, an "in progress status/' a "disapproved" status and a "completed" status. Other suitable indications of status may also be employed. If the user selects the view/edit the request for information technology services option 101, at a step 111, the user is prompted to select the particular request for information technology services, and, at a step 112, to choose to view or edit the request for information technology services and is then directed to a function for editing at a step 113 or to a function for viewing at a step 114, based on the user's selection.

A number of preprogrammed reports detailing various information with respect to each request for information technology services may also be provided. To print one such report, the user selects the desired report for printing. The system 90 may also include a checklist which may be used by the team members to keep track of the deliverables associated with the request for information technology services and a date that each deliverable or step in the process 10 was completed.

Finally, with respect to the various templates for the forms and worksheets in the process 10 described above, each of these templates may be provided in the database 100 of the system 90. Moreover, each template may vary from a simple form into which data is input, to a plurality of forms which may include programming for determining or calculating other data or information based upon the input data, for obtaining data from other sources, such as computer memory, for processing data to provide specific outputs, etc. Suitable programming may be used with one or more templates employed in the system 90, and programming may also be employed to transfer data or information among the various templates or to combine and process data from two or more different templates, optionally with other data, as desired.

Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail in the foregoing summary and detailed description, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions or alterations can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which is to be defined by the claims appended hereto.

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A process for handling a request for information technology services within a business organization based on a predetermined set of strategic goals of the business organization, the process comprising the steps of: preparing the request for information technology services for a prioritization decision including at least a sub-step of preparing one or more common templates for the request for information technology services, said one or more common templates including fact-based content relating the request for information technology services to the predetermined set of strategic goals of the business organization; calculating a priority weight score based at least in part on the fact-based content; reviewing the fact-based content of the one or more common templates and the priority weight score; prioritizing the request for information technology services relative to one or more other requests for information technology services based at least in part on the fact-based content of the common templates and the priority weight score; and implementing the request for information technology services and the one or more other requests for information technology services in the order of their prioritization.

2. The process as claimed in claim 1 , wherein in the step of preparing the request for information technology services for a prioritization decision, one of the common templates is a priority weight worksheet which permits calculation, based on the fact-based content, of a priority weight score for the request for information technology services.

3. The process as claimed in claim 2, wherein in the step of preparing the request for information technology services for a prioritization decision, the common templates further comprise one or more templates selected from a group comprising a cost/benefit worksheet, a submission form, a benefits worksheet and a sign off worksheet.

4. The process as claimed in claim 2, wherein the step of preparing the request for information technology services further includes the sub-steps of: compiling fact-based content relating to a plurality of needs, a plurality of benefits and a plurality of risks associated with the request for information technology services; preparing a cost/benefit worksheet based on the compiled fact-based content; and completing a submission form using at least some of the fact-based content compiled in the cost/benefit worksheet.

5. The process as claimed in claim 4, wherein the step of reviewing the request for information technology services further includes the sub-steps of: reviewing the common templates prepared in the step of preparing the request for information technology services for a prioritization decision; and evaluating the request for information technology services based at least in part on the fact-based content of the reviewed request for information technology services, including the information contained in the cost/benefit worksheet.

6. The process as claimed in claim 5, wherein the step of prioritizing the request for information technology services further includes the sub-steps of: presenting a list including a plurality of ongoing requests for information technology services and/or a plurality of already-approved and prioritized requests for information technology services; conducting a group discussion among a plurality of decision makers; and determining the priority of the request for information technology services relative to the list of the ongoing requests for information technology services and the already- approved and prioritized requests for information technology services.

7. The process as claimed in claim 2, wherein the step of preparing a priority weight worksheet includes the sub-step of calculating a priority weight score based on predetermined criteria designed to assess a strategic alignment of a proposed request for information technology services with the predetermined set of strategic goals of the business organization.

8. The process as claimed in claim 7, wherein the step of prioritizing the request for information technology services includes the sub-steps of: reviewing the calculated priority weight score of the request for information technology services as compared to a priority weight score of each of the already- approved and prioritized requests for information technology services and to each one of the ongoing requests for information technology services; optionally adjusting the calculated priority weight score of the request for information technology services if an actual priority of the request for information technology services is not accurately reflected by the calculated priority weight score; and prioritizing among two or more requests for information technology services based at least in part on the adjusted priority weight score.

9. A system for facilitating a process for prioritization of a request for information technology services within a business organization based on a predetermined set of strategic goals of the business organization, the system comprising: a computer; and an application executed by the computer, the application and the computer being operable in combination to: provide at least one template for the request for information technology services; receive fact-based data about the request for information technology services, at least some of the fact-based data being used to complete the at least one template; calculate a priority weight score from the received fact-based data; and display the fact-based data and the calculated priority weight score using the at least one template.

10. The system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the at least one template is a priority weight worksheet and the computer is operable to calculate a priority weight score based on fact-based information received for completing the priority weight worksheet.

11. The system as claimed in claim 10, wherein the computer is operable to allow an operator to create a new request for information technology services, edit an existing request for information technology services, and view an existing request for information technology services.

12. The system as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the at least one template includes one or more templates for a request form, a cost/benefit worksheet, a benefit worksheet and a sign off worksheet.

13. The system as claimed in claim 12, wherein the computer is operable to: receive data on a status of the request for information technology services; receive data on a plurality of costs to be incurred in the implementation of the request for information technology services; receive data on a completion status of each of a plurality of scheduled tasks for the request for information technology services; and display the received data on the status, the costs and the completion status of each of the plurality of scheduled tasks in a template for reassessing the priority weight score of the request for information technology services.

14. The system as claimed in claim 13, wherein the computer is operable to: display the received data on the status, the costs and the completion status of each of the scheduled tasks in combination with fact-based data contained in one or more templates selected from the group consisting of the templates for a submission form, a priority weight worksheet, a cost/benefit worksheet, a benefits worksheet, and a sign off worksheet.

15. The system as claimed in claim 14, wherein the computer is operable to calculate a priority weight score based on information received for the priority weight worksheet and based on a plurality of predetermined criteria designed to assess a strategic alignment of the request for information technology services with the predetermined set of strategic goals of the business organization.

16. The system as claimed in claim 9, wherein the application and the computer are further operable in combination to grant access to a particular user to the system based on a determination of a class of the particular user and a predetermined matrix which determines a level of access each of a plurality of different classes of users has to the system.

17. The system as claimed in claim 15, wherein the system further comprises the capability to display the fact-based data and a priority weight score of a new request for information technology services as well as the fact-based data and priority weight scores of a plurality of approved and ongoing requests for information technology services for comparison of the fact-based data and the priority weight score of the new request for information technology services to the fact-based data and the priority weight score of each of the approved and ongoing requests for information technology services.

18. The system as claimed in claim 17, wherein the system further comprises the capability to collect certain key fact-based data from each of the templates for inclusion in the submission form to provide a single form including such key fact-based data for each request for information technology services.