IT infrastructure is the backbone of the modern business. Depending on the size of the company and the industry it serves, IT infrastructure can include individual computers, communication systems, networks, servers, data centers, printers, software, and security systems. And of course, there’s the personnel needed to keep that infrastructure humming without disruption.

Most executives realize that the IT infrastructure is vital to today’s business processes, but many fail to grasp infrastructure’s full value, along with its contributions to strategic performance. Without that understanding, it can be difficult to justify new IT expenditures.

Defining value through differentiation

An organization can define and measure IT infrastructure value from a variety of perspectives. For example:

• Process Improvement -- How well does it support business processing demands?
• Strategy -- How do its capabilities support current and future business needs?
• Finance -- How does the investment affect bottom-line profitability?
• Compliance -- Does it help the organization comply with regulatory requirements?

Whichever methods are used to determine the value of infrastructure, context is king, and companies must weigh effectiveness against their distinct business goals. One organization may differentiate itself on service and reliability, for instance, while another builds its market reputation on speed or cost. Any infrastructure expenditure that effectively promotes a company’s unique point of differentiation and supports its particular business strategy will be easier to justify to other key decision-makers.

Focusing on the details

Once the value has been identified and prioritized, companies can move on to the next step: measuring the effectiveness and productivity of their IT infrastructures.

Whether an IT infrastructure is managed internally, outsourced, or some combination of the two, cost-and-performance measurement tools can help shed light on how well it’s performing, as can understanding its true life-cycle costs and benefits.

Companies often rely on outside expertise when examining the cost and performance of their infrastructures, but there are steps they can initiate which will put them squarely in the assessment driver’s seat and on the road to optimization.

Before a company can decide on the right direction, it has to first understand where it stands presently, and identify what it believes operational excellence should look like. The improvement process begins by detailing the current infrastructure, each of its components, and every service, defining the purpose of each and establishing current and desired performance levels.

Alternatively, organizations can begin the process by focusing on a single IT component -- typically the one that’s most challenging or disappointing.

By creating an accurate map of processes and services, plotting their values and measured performances, and breaking out cost components, companies can tackle the task of reducing their infrastructure’s complexities, eliminating redundancies, and boosting productivity. In the process, they can also elevate business performance to even greater heights.