Finance for IT Decision Makers: A Practical Handbook for Buyers, Sellers and Managers / Edition 1

by Michael Blackstaff

Overview

Purpose The purpose of this book is to explain to information technology (IT) decision makers those aspects of finance that most affect their work. Most IT decision makers belong in one of two categories. Some know a lot about IT, but less about finance; the others know a lot about finance, but less about IT. In my experience, those in the first category often have to make financial decisions. Those in the second also, of course, have to make financial decisions, but about things whose characteristics stretch the normal financial and accounting rules up to, and sometimes beyond, their elastic limit. Among the characteristics of IT that provide interesting challenges for financial people are the following: • The accelerating rate of change • The short and unpredictable useful life of IT assets • The mixture of hardware, software and services • Upgradability • Networks that cross country boundaries • IT jargon Asked what characteristics of finance provide interesting challenges for IT people, many of them would answer - "Everything". However, items in the following selection are often particular causes of wonder: • Leasing • Why financial models always shrink benefits but never costs • Being told that a company with a mountain of profit is about to fail through lack of cash • Discovering that their budget has been charged with £113 485.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783540762324
Publisher:	Springer London
Publication date:	12/11/1998
Series:	Practitioner Series
Edition description:	1999
Pages:	214
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x 0.02(d)

About the Author

Michael Blackstaff is a chartered accountant with over thirty years' finance and marketing experience in the IT industry. He has worked as a financial marketing specialist with IBM, teaching salespeople the finance of selling and advising customers on finance and accounting for IT. He writes and teaches on finance for non-financial professionals.

Table of Contents

1 Finance for IT Decision Makers.- 1. Decisions, Decisions.- 2. Financial Cases and Business Cases.- 3. When is a Benefit not a Benefit?.- 4. How Financial Cases are Evaluated - Part 1.- 5. How Financial Cases are Evaluated - Part 2.- 6. The Effects of Taxation.- 7. IT Leasing - Part 1.- 8. IT Leasing - Part 2.- 9. IT Aspects of Depreciation and Budgets.- 2 Finance Fundamentals in a Nutshell.- 10. Finance Fundamentals - Bringing it Together.- 11. Finance Fundamentals - Pulling it Apart.

Editorial Reviews

It is written in plain language and contains many practical examples. —Kybernetes, volume 35 issue 9, 2007

From the Publisher