Purchasing and Financial Management of Information Technology

IT Acqusition Policy: Introduction; The Objectives of Purchasing; What Makes IT Purchasing Different?; IT Strategy and Purchasing; IT Value; Foundations of IT Purchasing Policy; Purchasing Procedures; Dealing with Suppliers: Introduction; Good supplier relationships; Poor Supplier Relationships; Joint Development; Good Suppliers; Supplier Management Strategies; Handling Salesmen; Negotiating; Using Formal Tenders; Total Outsourcing; Sources Of Supplier Information; IT Costs and Cost Management: Are We Getting Value From IT?; The Dynamics Of IT Cost Growth; Identifying IT Costs; Managing hidden costs; Training costs; Managing Maintenance and Support Costs; Testing, Installation and Implementation; Invisible Costs; Chargeback; Outsourcing; Evaluating and Reviewing IT Investments: Principles Of IT Evaluation; IT Benefits; Why IT Expenditure is Difficult to Evaluate; Methods Of Evaluating IT Expenditure; IT Expenditure Benchmarking; Reviewing and Auditing IT Systems; IT Budgeting, Accounting and Cost Control: Introduction; Prerequisites For Good IT Budgeting; Why Good Budgeting Is Important; Four Basic Approaches to Budgeting; Ownership; Practical Rules For Budget Ownership; The Scope Of IT Budgeting; Roles In The IT Budgeting Process; Building a Budget; Project And Expenditure Justification; Chargeback Budgeting; Phasing a Budget; Reporting Against Budget; Forecasting; Good Monitoring And Reporting Practices; Tracking Hardware And Software; Accounting For IT; A Final Checklist; Specifying Hardware and Systems Software: Introduction; Two Approaches To Specification; Important Definitions; Specifying Processors; Specifying Desktop Machines; Specifying Portable PCs; Specifying On-Line Storage; Specifying Printers; Specifying Communications Requirements; System Software; Specifying Ergonomics; Specification of Application Software: Introduction; The Importance Of Good Software Specification; Specifying Requirements for Packaged Software; Functional Requirements; Specifying Custom Software Requirements; Conclusion; Purchasing and Other IT Products and Services: Introduction; Purchasing Hardware Maintenance; Purchasing Consultancy Services; Purchasing Systems Integration Services; Purchasing Contract Staff; Purchasing Resilience and Disaster Recovery Capability; Security; Evaluation and Selection of IT: Introduction; Overview of Evaluation Steps; Supplier Presentations; Demonstrations; Benchmarking; Weighted Ranking Methods; Reference Sites and Site Visits; Summary; Risk and Risk Management: Introduction; Supplier Risks; Hardware Purchasing Risks; System Software Risks; Packaged Software Risks; Custom Software Risks; Consortium Risks; People Risks; Major Project Risks; Quantifying Risk; Conclusion - Risk and Rationality; Legal Aspects of Purchasing: Introduction; Contracts - Basic Principles; Standard Contracts; Negotiated Contracts; Escrow and Related Matters; Licences; Other Contract Issues; Conclusion.