All About Money ... Or Is It?

That's why I have sincere respect for all those gifted financial wizards out there who make it simpler for the rest of us to concentrate on other things -- like motivating our teams to be their best. And it's why I'm intrigued by tools that could let solution providers get to the heart of money matters on behalf of their clients.

One such package, the Troux 4 IT Financial Management Solution released this spring, purports to automate the collection of cost information across an entire IT infrastructure environment.

According to Scott Bils, general manager, Business Value Management unit at Troux Technologies, the software lets companies track IT spending by application category, by business unit, by department, by asset type, by vendor, and so on. That goes for both packaged apps and custom solutions, he says. The software could also be used to price out the costs associated with hypothetical solutions that have not yet been deployed.

With approximately 35 enterprises on its customer roster, Troux executives are now hoping to win over regional systems integrators that may want to use the software as a tool for their own clients. "Most of these VARs and systems integrators have not templatized this stuff," says Pat Emerson, vice president of corporate development for Troux, which has its headquarters in Austin, Texas.

Of course, this sort of magic cost analysis comes with a pretty heft pricetag. Emerson and Bils are cagey about what Troux 4 costs but admit that the license could run up into the "seven figures."

Clearly, there is a need for the discipline that this sort of software brings to an IT organization. But to my mind, its focus lies too much on products and procurement and not enough on the people and process part of the equation.

The latter topic was the subject of a chat I had yesterday with Jim Serafin, executive vice president of SBI.Enteris, who keeps his office in Warren, N.J. (even if he's mostly on the road with clients). Serafin says that to separate the product discussion from the process discussion is mistake one for any solution provider. Consider that SBI.Enteris helped DaimlerChrysler strip $29 million in costs out of the process associated with processing incentives before it added new technology to the equation.

I guess my point is that solution providers should certainly prepare themselves to have tough conversations about IT costs -- conversations that are certainly better informed through tools like those sold by Troux. But no matter how much the financial wizards would like to magically shrink IT into a simple balance sheet item, it will never be that easy.

How do you prep yourself for tough money conversations? Share your experiences via e-mail.