Benchmarking the Organizational Benefits of IT: a practical approach

In recent years organizations have become quite proficient at measuring and benchmarking costs of Information Technology (IT), often using Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) models. However, measuring and benchmarking benefit and value aspects of IT has proven to be more difficult. This research develops a practical instrument for benchmarking benefit aspects of IT in organizations. The developed instrument is based on two existing IT investment portfolio methods, the method of Bedell and the Information Economics method by Parker, Benson and Trainor. The instrument is tested in various industries using interviews and a field test. The results show that the instrument is useful for housing associations and may also be applicable for municipalities and for-profit organizations. Furthermore, the method of Bedell is the more useful of the two selected methods, given the benchmarking context. Besides this, it is recommended to adapt the method of Bedell to contemporary organizational and IT characteristics.