Aligning Technology Solutions with
Business Considerations
Even though wireless networks form a very specific subset of
information technology assets, several high-level considerations are required
before making the decision to pursue a concrete design and implementation of a
WLAN in your ecosystem. These considerations encompass both business and
technology considerations, and they are not necessarily unique to WLANs. Indeed,
whenever an investment opportunity or requirement is present, similar
deliberations must be made. Examples include what the rationale for the
investment is, what the scope is, how much capital outlay will be required, what
the timing of these outlays is, what kinds of returns should be expected, and so
on. The same considerations can be made whether you are making an investment in
information technology, manufacturing equipment, real estate, or bonds.
There are, however, subtle differences when it comes to
information technology infrastructure investments for two reasons:
First, after IT infrastructure investments are made, they
should be considered sunk costs, which cannot be recovered. This is because the
average shelf life of today's IT assets is relatively short, even though the
asset might be usable for a relatively long time. The key point to consider is
the economic value, not the life span of usability of the asset. Many IT
products have economic life spans of one to three years, after which they have
no residual economic value. The lack of residual value does not, however, imply
that the asset can no longer be used.
Consider a similar example of a car. The fair market value of
an automobile that is 7 to 10 years old is almost non-existent. Nonetheless,
assuming that the vehicle remains in good operating condition, the car can
continue to be driven until it physically breaks down. As such, the cost of the
car is sunk after it has reached a certain age, but this does not mean that it
is no longer usable.
Now consider a real-estate investment such as a building or
land. These costs are not considered sunk because the initial cost can be
recovered many years after the purchase has occurred. The residual value of
these assets remains relatively constantin fact, we often hope that these assets
appreciate.
A second difference relating to investments in IT
infrastructure is that by design, infrastructure forms the foundation upon which
many higher-order solutions rest, including applications such as Customer
Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and e-mail
applications. The applications support business processes that in turn help an
organization to achieve its primary goals. IT infrastructure thus not only
becomes a core business enabler, but is often considered a core business
necessity in today's information-driven world.
The organizational ecosystem can thus be
deconstructed into several independent, tightly coupled layers, as shown in Figure 2-1. At the very
bottom, the infrastructure assets enable data transformation, storage, and
transport. These infrastructure assets are used by applications such as e-mail,
web services, CRM, ERP, and many others that give the information meaning.
In their turn, the applications support various transactional,
analytical, and collaborative processes. Transactional
processes ensure that one activity in a sequence is committed before proceeding
to the next one. Analytical processes
create, mine, and destroy data. Collaborative processes make it possible to share
information. Note that it is the collaborative process that
actually creates real value because information in isolation has none. What is
the value of a book that nobody reads? What is the value of an idea if nobody is
aware of it?
At the very top, the organization has its specialized,
dedicated teams that use the various processes to help the organization achieve
its goals. Examples of corporate goals are increasing shareholder value, serving
customers, providing employees with a superior working environment, and helping
the community.
The flow of information in the institutional ecosystem creates
a dynamic, fluid environment through which information flows with varying
velocities. The ultimate purpose of acquiring, interpreting, and manipulating
this information is to enable the institution to act upon it and adjust to
changing conditions in the pursuit of its goals. For this to happen in a timely
and relevant fashion, several criteria need to be fulfilled:
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You must understand the external environment in which the
organization exists.
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You must be thoughtful of the internal constituents that make
up the organization.
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You must align internal and external elements so that you can
identify and manipulate the relevant levers to effectively respond to the
external environment.
Today, WLANs form an integral part of the IT infrastructure
portfolio. However, it is not always clear whether this transport asset is
relevant for any given organization. Indeed, when considering WLANs, you need to
answer four basic questions:
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Why are WLANs relevant to support my organizational goals?
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What benefits should I target or expect?
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Where should I deploy the WLANs?
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How should I implement and operate the WLANs?
The remainder of this chapter covers the business-technology
alignment challenge and arms you with the necessary tools to tackle and answer
the first two questions. The following chapters cover the third and fourth
questions.
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