AIM for measuring IT value

In the paper, ‘Missing Millions: Unlocking strategic IT Value’, Sapient and the Kellogg School present the Application Investment Management (AIM) framework as a tool to help businesses measure the value of their existing IT portfolios and identify new areas for creating value.

In a survey of 179 Fortune 1000 firms, 44 percent did not have well documented applications and infrastructure. This shows that there is tremendous opportunity to unlock business value from the existing IT applications portfolio. According to the paper, the AIM framework can help companies create competitive advantages.

Some of the other benefits that companies can hope to achieve by applying the AIM framework are:

• Gaining a better understanding of the value, cost and dependencies across the entire applications portfolio.
• Identifying areas of over- and under-investment in order to focus investments on applications and initiatives that support strategic business goals.
• Reallocating non-essential operational spending to new development to fuel innovation and efficiency.
• Enhancing IT-business alignment on an ongoing basis.
• Evaluating enterprise technology for regulatory compliance.
• Reducing the risk of outsourcing and offshoring decisions.