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 COLUMN
The resourceful CTO IT'S BUDGET time here at InfoWorld Media Group, and as are many of you, I am spending a lot of time plowing through Excel spreadsheets, reviewing service contracts, and taking a fresh look at the strategic vision of my technology organization.
The budget process is instrumental in refining the strategic mission and aligning technology initiatives with the needs of the business. Now is the time for CTOs to test their abilities to manage resources, people, and expectations in a down cycle. Because their title is one that has emerged recently, many people are facing the challenge as CTOs for the first time. Despite tighter budgets and the widely held notion that dot-coms were a failed experiment, dot-coms moved at light speed, which upped the ante for traditional IT organizations and created the expectation that everything suddenly must be done faster. In our current environment, the challenge becomes maintaining this velocity and growing the business while keeping costs down and focusing on profits. As I think about this for my company, I offer some advice to other CTOs managing the budget process in the new New Economy. * Strongly consider high-performance/low-cost open-source solutions. In 1996 I was working at a major media company when I sheepishly mentioned to my boss that one of our key applications was running on Linux --the horror, the horror! (It was quickly moved to another OS.) I noticed only by accident because the application and machine had been running without fail for months, and therein lies the continuing appeal of Linux. With IBM planning to spend $1 billion on Linux in 2001, using Linux is now a no-brainer and a smart business decision. Take notice of Apache, Samba, BIND, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and lesser-known projects like MRTG and cfengine. It's a good bet that a couple of these can help you save money and maintain a high level of performance. * Sharpen your negotiating skills, both internal and external. There has never been a better time to review the terms of deals you have with vendors and partners. Be proactive. Chances are, other companies that use your services will be knocking at your door asking for better terms if they haven't already. As the old adage goes, A penny saved is a penny earned. The value of the CTO often comes through when dealing with critical contractual details in a larger strategic context. Such details can affect the bottom line very quickly if they aren't carefully analyzed. After getting your vendors and partners in line, take your well-honed negotiating skills into the boardroom to make the case for your budget, focusing on ROI and the strategic value of your proposed initiatives. * Take a fresh look at overall business initiatives. It has been my experience that a surprising number of phantom initiatives can bubble to the surface, requiring significant resources with unclear benefits. Working closely with the executive management team at your company, take a look at all projects. Lobby to kill the ones with poor ROI, but carefully maintain projects with longer-term benefits. Give higher priority to the projects that will produce short-term revenue and contribute to the long-term strategic goals of your business. This budgeting season is the perfect opportunity to leverage the downturn to position IT as a key catalyst for creating value within your company. Chad Dickerson is InfoWorld's CTO. Contact him at chad_dickerson@infoworld.com. MORE > SPONSORED WHITE PAPERS 
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