Application Portfolio Management in Hospitals

Application portfolio management concerns the management of all technology and applications, and is a complex task under pressure of increasing collaboration among hospitals. Various approaches to application portfolio management are described in existing literature, but are directed at commercial enterprises rather than health care organizations. Addressing this deficiency, this article presents the results of three case studies conducted at Dutch hospitals surveying current application portfolio management processes. Results show differences between the three hospitals. One hospital implemented a continuous application portfolio management process. The other hospitals perform ad-hoc IT management due to, among others, lacking support from management, decentralized IT governance structures and an increasing need for technical integration. This article can assist IT executives in making better informed decisions, while it provides a step towards a better understanding of the complex application portfolio management process in hospitals for academia.

IT Governance Practices in a Public Organization in Ghana

The strategic importance of information technology (IT) in today's organizations and dependence on IT to support e-government strategies has increased the interest in IT Governance (ITG) in public sector organizations. From this perspective, this paper examines ITG practices in a public organization in Ghana (that has a responsibility to mobilize revenue for national development) in order to gain an insight into IT governance structures, processes and relational mechanisms and understand how this contributes to adding value through IT. The findings have revealed that this public organization has a centralized approach to IT governance, with inadequate board involvement concerning how IT investments can bring value and improve organizational performance. Furthermore, there are no IT steering and strategy committees to oversee IT governance as best practice requires.

Application Portfolio Management in Hospitals

Application portfolio management concerns the management of all technology and applications, and is a complex task under pressure of increasing collaboration among hospitals. Various approaches to application portfolio management are described in existing literature, but are directed at commercial enterprises rather than health care organizations. Addressing this deficiency, this article presents the results of three case studies conducted at Dutch hospitals surveying current application portfolio management processes. Results show differences between the three hospitals. One hospital implemented a continuous application portfolio management process. The other hospitals perform ad-hoc IT management due to, among others, lacking support from management, decentralized IT governance structures and an increasing need for technical integration. This article can assist IT executives in making better informed decisions, while it provides a step towards a better understanding of the complex application portfolio management process in hospitals for academia.