비용을 절감할 수 있는 의사결정을 내리는 책임자가 진정한 IT영웅이다.(Wall Street Technology 2008.12.19)
(Be an IT Hero With a Focus on Cost-Conscious Technology Decisions)
Why It’s Important: TowerGroup estimates that Wall
Street’s 2009 IT spending will be 14 to 16 percent below 2008 levels.
Celent projects a dismal 30 to 40 percent drop in new IT investment for
the industry in 2009. But, “Part of that is the fact that there are
fewer companies ? Bear Stearns and Lehman Brothers are not there
anymore,” explains Celent senior analyst David Easthope. He predicts
that front-office IT will be hurt the most. “When business growth
slows, the front office loses its high-priority status,” he notes.
(TowerGroup이 예상할 때 2009년도 IT예산은 2008년도보다 14~16%가 내려갈 것이라고 합니다. Celent는 신규프로젝트의 경우 30~40%정도 감소할 것으로 예상했습니다. 이런 상황에서 가장 큰 타격을 받는 부문은 Front Office부분입니다. 비즈니스가 저성장일 때 가장 우선 순위로 프론트오피스 부문이 감소된다.)
Yet there are opportunities for IT heroism. “If you can tell the COO
you can cut 20 percent of your cost by moving over to a single platform
quickly and efficiently, you’re a hero,” Easthope says.
Where the Industry Is Now: Sell-side firms have
already become quite cost-conscious. “In September, as Lehman went
bankrupt, firms had to revisit their IT budgets, but they were already
tight — there hasn’t been a heck of a lot to cut back,” says Tom
Secaur, managing director of Citisoft.
Cost-conscious IT has been a “vigorous thought process” at Wachovia,
says Richard Mattox, SVP and senior director of technology,
architecture and business services. Two of the firm’s cost-efficiency
strategies to date have been virtualization and telepresence.(비용절감IT 는 모든 프로세스에 밀착되고 있다. 아울러 비용절감전략을 채택하는 기업들중 가상화과 원격현존감을 도입하고 있다.)
‘현존감’이라는 단어는 하이데거의 ‘현존재’ 개념에서 착안한 것으로 어떠한 가상공간이 있을 때 그 안에 동화되어 있는
느낌으로서의 지각적 실감을 의미한다. 원격현존감은 콘텐츠 등을 통해 구현되는 가상현실이 사회적 현존감, 교류적 현존감 등과 같은
지각자의 심리적 상태로 이어지는 것을 말한다. 원격현존감을 강화하는 기술이 적용된 원격교육의 경우 미디어와 학습자와의
커뮤니케이션 과정은 학습자로 하여금 교수자와의 교류적 현존감을 느낄 수 있게 한다.
At start-up fund administrator Atlantic Fund Administration in
Portland, Maine, “We’re relying on workflow and imaging tools to ensure
that our environment is as paperless as it can be,” says Stacey Hong,
president of the firm’s accounting group. New account applications,
shareholder correspondence and trade tickets are among the documents
that are imaged using SunGard software and routed automatically to the
right workers. Hong estimates this saves about 10 to 15 percent of
human labor. The firm also has implemented low-cost VOIP (from Cisco),
and thin clients and Citrix servers provide workstations that are 55 to
60 percent less expensive than full-blown desktop computers, Hong
reports.
Focus in 2009: “2009 will be about finding ways of
doing the same amount of business with dramatically less overhead,”
Celent’s Easthope says. “Firms will be looking at the existing
infrastructure … [to] find out ways you can cut maintenance
spending.”
Although rationalization, or consolidation of platforms, can come with
heavy integration and training costs, “In this environment you can go
back to the vendors and say, ‘I’m a big client of yours ? we have this
contract that limits us to X number of seats; why don’t you go ahead
and throw in more seats?'” Easthope adds. “Vendors are seeing their
business dry up. You can negotiate on price, whether it’s for
maintenance, number of seats, training or implementation.”
At Wachovia, “We’re looking to create savings through technology
modernization,” the bank’s Mattox says. “We’re seeing huge cost by
holding on to old technology, through maintenance and repair.” One
initiative on Wachovia’s drawing board is consolidation of cell phones
and desktop phones: one cell phone would work for business and personal
use, and telecom devices would no longer have to be installed at users’
desks. The firm also plans to improve the cost-effectiveness of its
virtual desktops by assigning more virtual desktops per server.
Citisoft’s Secaur believes more firms will outsource middle- and back-office work in the year ahead.
Industry Leaders: Among large firms Wachovia has been
a leader in efficient IT strategies for the past two years. It will be
interesting to see if its acquirer, Wells Fargo, continues the trend.
Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley have also taken a disciplined approach
to selective IT investment.
Technology Providers: Middle- and back-office outsourcing is offered by State Street, Northern Trust, Citi and J.P. Morgan.
Price Tag: Being the one with the ideas that save money and jobs? Priceless.
