Identifying and benchmarking information technolgy cost within a multinational

Abstract

Faced by ever increasing expenditure on Information Technology (IT), organisations are turning to what can be perceived as measures of world-class performance such as benchmarking to identify weaknesses in their practices. The objectives of this research were two-fold: Firstly, to explore in what way an organisation identifies its Information Technology costs, and secondly, to determine what IT cost benchmarking takes place within an organisation and to determine its value and relevance to the organisation. The research was conducted as a qualitative two phase snapshot case study across five regions within GoodsCo. Data collection comprised of unstructured face-to-face interviews and five semi-structured telephonic interviews. Content analysis was then used to identify the key patterns or themes which emerged. The research established that Information Technology costs within GoodsCo consists of primarily direct costs components, and that most indirect cost components and contextual elements are not accounted for. Finally it was established that limited and infrequent benchmarking occurs within these regions, and that GoodsCo derives limited value and relevance from their current benchmarking practices.