Business Intelligence Applied: Implementing an Effective Information and Communications Technology Infrastructure

Conclusion

At the heart of utilizing ICT for competitive advantage is the ability to determine how ICT can be used to improve and innovate business processes. The business analyst must be able to take a process view of the organization and determine whether the existing business processes can be supported or modified by ICT to produce an enhanced competitive position for the organization. The business analyst must determine whether a clean-slate approach is the correct one for process change and ICT implementation and thus the best course of action.

When determining which business processes are the best candidates for innovation or improvement, the business analyst must maintain an eye on the overall organizational context, which means understanding the type of organization (e.g., manufacturing, service, or information) and how the organization differs from organizations in other business sectors. Those differences will require that organizational change also be handled differently from one organization to the next. The business analyst must monitor the processes through measurement (discussed in Chapter 6), ownership, and levers. Measurement allows for a determination of the effect of process changes. Process owners and levers influence change and determine its success.

As discussed throughout this book, business processes have objectives and attributes. Objectives are goals that the organization wants to accomplish through a business process, and attributes are properties of ...