NEWSLETTERS
 

CIO.com updates, insights and advice on technology, management and your career.

 
 
 
LEADERSHIP
 
CIO Executive Programs
The Leader in Face-to-Face Education for Senior Executives

Offering regional and national programs, CIO (and CSO) events bring together some of the most respected names and thought leaders in information technology and security. Presented by CIOs and other senior level executives, these invitation-only programs offer timely topics and strong networking. Learn More »

 
CIO Executive Council
A Peer-Advisory Service and Professional Association for CIOs

Social Responsibility's Strategic Benefits

December 15, 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM US/Eastern (GMT-5)

Join Ed Granger-Happ, CIO of Save the Children, for a discussion of how creating an organization that is socially responsible improves staffing, retention, leadership development and overall corporate health.

Working With and Communicating to Your Board of Directors

January 13, 2009, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM US/Eastern (GMT-5)

CIO panelists who will share tips and experiences working with their boards: Twila Day of SYSCO; Jeff O'Hare, West Corp.; Marc West, formerly with H&R Block.

IT's Role in Growing Mid-Market Companies

January 14, 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM ET (GMT-5)

Mid-market Council members will share their companies' stories and challenges in driving or coping with growth. Panelists represent Veterinary Pet Insurance, Medicis Pharmaceutical, and Intrax Cultural Exchange.

More / Register »

Learn more about the CIO Executive Council »



 
 
RESOURCE CENTER
 
 
 
SUBSCRIBE TO CIO
 
Are you involved in setting the direction for your company's IT budget or strategy?

Apply today for a FREE subscription to CIO Magazine!

 
 

Fund Your Network the Right Way

One day (maybe now) you're going to upgrade the wiring in your office building or install Wi-Fi. But don't ask users to pay for it. Ask them for a loan, instead.

 

April 30, 2008CIO — How would you feel if the phone company charged you for wiring your house, and then claimed to own the in-premises wiring and charged you a service fee for its use?

"Not fair!" you'd say.

But this is exactly what some IT departments do. They demand funding from clients to wire new buildings, to augment the wiring in existing buildings, and to install wireless access. Then IT claims to own the entire network and charges clients for the connectivity! Naturally, clients get upset. They feel they're being double-charged, even if the calculations can show that's not true.

Beyond this, clients demand control over their spending. In our market economy, nobody tells you that you have to buy something you don't want. Thus, it would be natural to assume that if clients are asked to pay for any portion of the IT infrastructure, they have a right to decide what to buy. Controversy arises when IT wants to change the network and clients say no, or when clients want to use a different technology than what IT proposes. If IT forces them to buy things they don't want—under the guise of "policy" or "technical imperatives"—then clients feel they've lost control of their money and resentment is inevitable.

Furthermore, we're accustomed to a simple rule: If you paid for something, you own it and have every right to control it. So when clients fund infrastructure, they have every right to feel they "own" the assets they paid for. But this assumption undermines IT's ability to manage an enterprise network.

When it comes to building wiring, there's even more confusion. Business units are tenants in buildings owned by a corporate facilities department. If clients pay for the wiring and then move, does the next tenant have to reimburse them? Or does the facilities group pay for and own the wiring—in which case does it decide what kind of network to put in?

When I found such confusion within a state government's IT department, I thought it was an isolated case. But then I found the same controversy within a university's IT department, and again within a corporate IT department. When I asked around, I found confusion about who pays for network infrastructure to be commonplace—and worthy of a column to sort it out.

Why Ownership of Infrastructure Is Confusing

To begin, let's consider the challenge from the viewpoint of the IT department. IT needs funding for the one-time costs of installing building wiring and wireless access. Then it needs funding for the ongoing operational costs of the network.

Whether the IT department charges clients directly, allocates its costs or has its own budget (which clients believe is provided to IT to benefit them), ultimately clients pay. You can't ignore the issue for long just because you don't charge back your costs to clients. If clients look at where your budget went, they'll see that it went to buy infrastructure instead of the projects they requested. Psychologically, it's all their money.

Loading...
 
 
IT Jobs
 
 
 
ABCs
 

Just the basics, please. Sometimes we all need a refresher or we need to make sure our team and our colleagues are all on the same page.

Over 25 tutorials on everything from business intelligence to virtualization.

 
 
FEATURED SPONSORS
 
 
 
SPONSORED LINKS
 

17 Ways to Reduce Cost in IT

A CISO's Guide to Application Security

Learn how the new Quad-Core AMD Opteron™ processor improves performance

The Link Between APM and Customer Satisfaction

Providing Around-the-Clock Customer Satisfaction

File Integrity Monitoring: Prove compliance and secure your IT environments

Affordable technology-no compromise. HP server solutions

SOA Educational Library at the TIBCO SOA Resource Center

CIO Viewpoints: Migrating to Exchange 2007

Thrive during global disruption. Cisco video featuring Juan Enriquez

A new level of interoperability. Make IT Work As One@novell.com

Protect data-HP All-in-One and Disk-Based systems

Businesses Transform with VMware Virtualization

Download the free CIO Starter Kit to access useful resources created by top CIOs

Leveraging Social Computing Technologies for ERP Applications

Server Virtualization Benchmark Results

Learn to Leverage Maximum Computing Power

Windows Vista: Essential Benefits and Deployment Strategies

Best Practices: Safe and Secure Hardware Asset Recovery

White Paper: Migrating to Windows Vista and Microsoft Office 2007 Together

White Paper: Enabling Next Generation IP Communications

White Paper: A Cohesive Network Security Approach

Why Your Firewall, VPN, and IEEE Aren't Enough to Protect Your Network

Dramatically boost network capacity and speed-up to 600 Mbps

White Paper: The Roadmap to Data Center Automation

How to Start a PMO & Realize the Benefits Fast

Operational Excellence Is Key to Maximizing IT Investments

APM Solutions: A Window into Complex Web Applications

APM Solutions Offer Insight into Complex Web Applications

Corral, configure and control all your mischievous machinery with a Lantronix device server

Spend less. Get hosted UC. Get cash back. It's easy under a Cypress

Predict the future with HP Insight Power Manager

Log onto Hitachi True Stories, films inspired by the next great achievement

Earn PROFESSIONAL DOCTORATE Part-Time, Online at Syracuse University's iSchool

Make IT Work As One@novell.com

Predict the future with HP Insight Power Manager

HP LaserJet P4014n printer starting at $799 after $100 IS. www.hp.com

CIO Starter Kit includes useful resources created by top CIOs. Free Download>>

The Business of Managing Content: Xythos Document Management & Microsoft SharePoint

Virtualization Benchmark and TCO Analysis-Read Now

White Paper: Scaling Down HPC for Smaller Organizations

White Paper: Never Enough Compute Power?

Microsoft Windows Vista Cost and Benefit Estimator

White Paper: Efficient Desktop Application Management

White Paper: Take your Call Center to the Next Level

Is Your WLAN Helping You Comply with Security Guidelines of the PCI Standard?

White Paper: Improve Employee Efficiency and Reduce Telecom Costs

White Paper: Green Issues for Networking

New IDG Survey Results on Data Center Automation

Learning from BPM Leaders