IT@NUS may 2008: The Value of That Project?

The Value of That Project
by TAN Khon Han

So what benefit can we get from implementing that project?

There are many means to measure a project's value. Some common ones that you may be aware are Cost-Benefit-Analysis (CBA), Total Cost of Ownership (TCO), Return of Investment (ROI) etc.

One methodology we recently engaged was the Business Value Analysis (BVA). BVA enables business to manage IT risk, maximize IT performance and quantify the gain that the project realizes. In collaboration with Symantec, Computer Centre has completed a BVA study on the business value of NUS LargeMail which was introduced in 2006.

NUSmail space for staff and students were increased by 200 folds to 10G and 1G respectively. Interestingly, our study has helped identified and realized a >US$3.1 million projected business value attainment from October 2006 to December 2008.

In BVA, we first look at business drivers, where the project should focus at. We then looked at the challenges and IT transformation needed to realize the solution that addresses our business drivers.

For this BVA, Total Operation and Economic Impact (TOEI) is used to define the business value. The business values may be presented as productivity improvements, purchase avoidance, cost savings and cost avoidance.

A copy of the BVA on NUS LargeMail is available here.