BE TRANSPARENT ABOUT IT CAHRGES

摘要

As the regulatory grip tightens on businesses to exact greater ac-countability, there is mounting pressure on IT directors to make the charges their departments levy more transparent. The IT department used to enjoy the status of a protected species, able to spend freely and pass the cost on to other business units. But the collapse of dotcom businesses curbed boards' willingness to spend excessively on IT and the profligate IT director has disappeared. Without a clear model for how IT should be priced and its goods delivered to an internal market, IT is still susceptible to accusations of irresponsible spending. Financial institutions and multinational corporations are having to comply with new Basel 2 and Sarbanes-Oxley regulations and demonstrate that transactions are justified. "As a result of recession and regulatory concern, there is a desire for greater cost transparency across the board," says Will Cappelli, vice-president with analyst firm Meta Group. He expects the result of these compliance efforts to be more transparent pricing for IT and, consequently, improved relations with the business units.