The process of determining what a client needs to enable business process re-engineering (BPR) is called REQUIREMENTS ENGINEERING. The client's current situation needs to be accurately and objectively assessed before either a diagnosis or a prescription is produced. SO, the first step in a Requirements Engineering exercise should be an audit of the client's organization and technology. Doug Dayton shows us how to go about it.

Dayton's INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AUDIT HANDBOOK is really just an elaborate set of questionnaires for exploring the client's business BEFORE recommending any particular action. Dayton has obviously spent years in this business, because his various categories of questions are very comprehensive and astute. His premise is, that the more you learn up front, the better advice you can give, AND the better you can help satisfy the customer's needs.

Other participants in the project (including the client) may NOT initially see this. But patience and persistence will more than pay for themselves later in the project. All of this raises a point, which Dayton does NOT dwell on, but which is vital. A successful audit is influenced as much by the stakeholder personalities and organizational politics that the auditor encounters, as by the functional knowledge elicited by the questionnaires. In fact, as a practitioner, I can assure that psychology and sociology are usually MORE IMPORTANT than business or technical expertise!

But Dayton's methods in no way detract from this important truth. However, his book and the accompanying floppy disk containing the audit forms, make the design of the audit questions so manageable, that an auditor could afford an investment of time in upgrading inter-personal skills. Then when it comes time to use Dayton's various forms, to audit the business, the information technology, the competition, and future prospects, the auditor will be able to administer the questionnaires and interpret the findings much more effectively.

A complementary perspective is that Dayton's book provides detailed planning guidelines for gathering and interpreting business intelligence. And both senses of the term "intelligence" apply. Strategic information (the first form of intelligence) is necessary in order to generate smart solutions (the second form of intelligence). Seen in this light, Dayton's method provides "everything you ever wanted to ask about business intelligence." So, if you are contemplating business process re-engineering, DON'T BE A DUMMY -- get the facts through a business audit. Then if you decide to go with BPR, you will be able to approve it with informed consent.

COPYRIGHTED © with the Right to Copy: The HTML Author declares the ethical right to share this material provided: (1) authorship is properly accredited; (2) the conceptual integrity of the content is respected; and (3) any and all remunerative use is preceded by a negotiated agreement with the author. No liability for the implications or consequences of its use may be attributed to the author.

Amazon.com Review

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

Addresses business and technology issues - RECOMMENDED!, July 19, 2001
Reviewer: Mike Tarrani (see more about me) from Tustin, CA USA
This book provides a unique approach that blends traditional IT auditing with business goals and objectives. Using the auditing strategy that Mr. Dayton outlines you can develop a valid baseline of your IT operational posture and its alignment to company strategy and tactics.

In addition to the audit and alignment baseline, the information gained from an audit performed in accordance with the methods given in this book also forms a complete "as is" picture. This is useful for determining where to put resources for improvement initiatives, or for determining if a complete reengineering of IT is in order. As I read through this book the strong emphasis on business issues outside of the boundaries of IT led me to conclude that a complete audit based on this approach should be a prerequisite for establishing a governance or program management office function.

The book itself is not exactly a page turner because the writing is somewhat dry. However, the approach and the wealth of worksheets and checklists (also provided on the accompanying disk) compensate for this. Among the parts of this book that I especially like are: (1) strategic business worksheets, which when completed and compiled will give a comprehensive picture of the company's business posture (it's unfortunate, but true, that this information will be a surprise to many IT departments), (2) Chapter 6 on evaluating new technologies, which takes a life cycle view of technology evaluation and selection, (3)Chapters 10 through 12, which cover recruiting, evaluating, managing and training technical personnel and working with consultants. These chapters provide a clear and unbiased assessment for the HR side of IT. The information here can also be used to develop policies, processes and procedures for human resource management, and will also provide a solid foundation if you elect to measure your organization against Software Engineering Institute's People Capability Maturity Model.

This book is an excellent resource for management and technology consultants, and larger IT organizations. The worksheets alone are worth many times the price of the book, but the true value is the way the author integrates IT and business factors into a comprehensive audit method. Highly recommended and earns 5 stars.

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