Recession or otherwise, there is an imperative need for the creation and deliverance of business value within companies. Businesses constantly look for ways of creating efficiencies, increasing productivity, streamlining processes, and reducing waste. They need to achieve more with less people. They need to identify and implement solutions bringing maximum value, while minimizing or eliminating resource expenditure and sunken costs.
IT investments such as software solutions, web sites, portals and applications or a full-blown ERP system – help companies take control of their entire business with the eco-system addressing multiple needs. However, measuring and leveraging on ROI on IT investments continues to be a challenge for most.
Based on a CIO Insight Survey,
• Only 60% companies measure the business value of IT
• 62% find it difficult to calculate the ROI
• 52% say executives are “skeptical” of ROI results
• 45% say metrics don’t adequately capture business value
Business Value Dials are financial measurements of business value that map to the bottom line of the company. For example: Expense avoidance, Revenue increase, Working capital, and Headcount management.
One crucial dimension (and business value dial) that companies often overlook is leveraging upon Usability of IT systems in order to improve ROI. Usability, if employed at the right time and in the right manner – can yield one or more of the following “measurable” benefits, directly contributing to the company’s bottom line:
• Better market position
• Faster growth
• Greater operational efficiency
• Increased productivity
• Improved asset utilization
• Increased margin
To summarize, Usability benefits in monetary savings, productivity increase, sales increase from IT products, services and operations.
Does your business value dial include usability?
Vishal Mehta is a usability professional who loves to play chess and has a strong eye for details. He’s also the CEO of IDYeah Creations, a UX practice in Pune, India. Vishal is also a guest blogger on UXBooth, Technorati, BlogCritics, and SAP Community Network.
Related posts:
- Business Applications Usability & Recurring Benefits
- Strategy to Improve SAP Usability
- Reasons for Branding Usability Revamp
- Usability Dimension: “Valuable”
- What Role Does User Interface Play In Your App Decisions?
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