Discover the 2022 version of Cigref’s Economic and ecological IT management model. Written by Joachim Treyer, Managing Director of Cost House, Steve Gordon, Cost House Partner and Elena Silvera, Cigref Project Manager, with contributions from Cigref’s team of permanent staff, the model is now available on our website. Special thanks to Léa Castor, whose illustrations give an aesthetic and playful dimension to the complex issues addressed in this model.
Cigref has been working on IT cost models for over 20 years. The “IT Cost Analysis and Benchmarking Model” is now an industry standard.
Adopted in France and abroad by many large companies in various sectors of activity – energy, transport, industry, banks – the model nevertheless needs to be regularly updated[1]. it must take into account changes in the IT department’s business units and its consequences in terms of economic – and now ecological – management.
After the 2006, 2009, and 2018 versions, the 2022 edition of the “IT Benchmarking and Cost Analysis Model” has changed its name to the “Economic and Ecological IT Management Model”. This new terminology illustrates that the changes in the IT world are being taken into account, particularly with regard to cloud computing/FinOps, Agility and Carbon Footprint – three strategic themes of current importance to companies’ digital issues.
After all, IT departments are faced with powerful organisational changes. With regard to cloud computing and its expansion, and the growing use of solutions operated and delivered in SaaS mode[2] by the main publishers, these dynamics are not without consequences for the financial management of projects, and call for changes in the FinOps function in companies in terms of skills and processes.
Agility, meanwhile, requires a rethink of the IT department’s methods, operational activities, structure and offering. Agility therefore has direct implications for the management model, since it has been based on the “Activity Based Costing” method since its creation, making activities central to analyses.
Finally, carbon footprinting is one of the most important issues for businesses and administrations today, and this goes beyond the IT sphere, as the issue relates to adopting and adapting responsible conduct in both public and private sector activities.
For these reasons, it was particularly critical to update the cost model, which should make it possible to answer the questions raised by an ever-changing environment of constraints and opportunities.
It seemed obvious to Cigref that it should partner with the Cost House consultancy, which has been its partner for many years on the subject of economic performance. The work was thus led and conducted jointly with Joachim Treyer, Managing Director and co-founder of Cost House, who has been involved in the development of this tool since its creation, and Steve Gordon, Cost House Partner, former permanent member of Cigref and the writer responsible for this reference framework.
This document is evolving, and is intended to be enriched with the feedback and proposals of user members, in order to remain in line with their needs and to best meet their expectations.
[1] The first version of Cigref’s “IT Cost Analysis and Benchmarking Model” was published in 2006, followed by three updates in 2009, 2014, and 2018. Find the 2006, 2009, 2014 and 2018 editions of the model.
[2] Software as a Service.