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Organizations Can Maximize Value by Working Underutilized Enterprise Applications Harder
In a low capital expenditure climate, organizations need to know how to unlock the financial and intellectual value hidden in existing assets, Butler Group report argues
London — July 21, 2009 — When capital is in short supply, the pressure to optimize existing resources and assets intensifies. In the IT space, enterprise applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) are prime targets.
A new report by European IT research and advisory organization Butler Group points to the strategic importance of these applications in terms of running businesses efficiently and effectively, and how changes in the way they are architected, delivered, and used are altering the entire application value proposition and lifecycle.
Titled "Evolving Enterprise Applications", the report says there is a tendency to focus on cutting costs. It argues that cost reduction and value generation are two sides of the same bottom line, and so they should be tackled together as part of a unified strategy with savings in one area being used to fund smart investments in another.
"Cost cutting is a natural reaction to a tough economic climate; so is freezing budgets and halting additional expenditure. But these actions can be counterproductive if they are carried out in a siloed fashion with little attention paid to long-term and strategic implications," said Angela Eager, senior research analyst at Butler Group and the report's lead author. "Challenging times are times of change, but change also brings opportunity and that means taking a fresh view of what is being done, why and how, and being prepared to adapt both business operations and applications."
Apps as Enablers of Change
"Enterprise applications form part of the DNA of an organization and are core to its ability to do business but that integral status means they are often overlooked," Eager said. "They impact so many areas of the business that they become almost invisible. As a result when it comes to developing value-generating initiatives they are back of mind, yet no new initiative can be fully effective if the core it relies on is not tuned."
A new report by European IT research and advisory organization Butler Group points to the strategic importance of these applications in terms of running businesses efficiently and effectively, and how changes in the way they are architected, delivered, and used are altering the entire application value proposition and lifecycle.
Titled "Evolving Enterprise Applications", the report says there is a tendency to focus on cutting costs. It argues that cost reduction and value generation are two sides of the same bottom line, and so they should be tackled together as part of a unified strategy with savings in one area being used to fund smart investments in another.
"Cost cutting is a natural reaction to a tough economic climate; so is freezing budgets and halting additional expenditure. But these actions can be counterproductive if they are carried out in a siloed fashion with little attention paid to long-term and strategic implications," said Angela Eager, senior research analyst at Butler Group and the report's lead author. "Challenging times are times of change, but change also brings opportunity and that means taking a fresh view of what is being done, why and how, and being prepared to adapt both business operations and applications."
Apps as Enablers of Change
"Enterprise applications form part of the DNA of an organization and are core to its ability to do business but that integral status means they are often overlooked," Eager said. "They impact so many areas of the business that they become almost invisible. As a result when it comes to developing value-generating initiatives they are back of mind, yet no new initiative can be fully effective if the core it relies on is not tuned."
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