Baseline and BTM Corp. Team Up on 500 Rankings

Everyone says information technology adds value to enterprise operations. Analysts and practitioners alike expound the benefits technology brings by creating greater efficiencies, lowering costs and enhancing productivity. But how does technology relate to an organization?s revenue and profit performance? 

That?s the question we asked when reviewing the methodology for this year?s Baseline 500. Our conclusion: It?s not enough to measure IT productivity in the abstract. The ultimate measure of any enterprise activity is how it affects the top and bottom lines.

That?s why Baseline is teaming up with BTM Corp. to create the new Baseline/BTM 500. (BTM is a management solutions provider that innovates new business models, enhances financial performance, and improves operational efficiency.)

?Enterprises on all levels are looking at technology beyond creating efficiencies and cost reductions,? says Lawrence M. Walsh, the project manager for the Baseline/BTM 500. ?Technology, when incorporated into business visions and goals, can become an enabler of revenue and profit growth. With the partnership with BTM, Baseline will provide a new measure of IT effectiveness in building stronger businesses.? 

The Baseline/BTM 500, scheduled for publication in October, will quantify how the largest U.S. companies are managing technology. The partnership represents a significant change and improvement to previous Baseline 500 methodologies and results. Previous iterations used a complex model based on IT productivity measured over a three-year span. The new methodology, developed exclusively by BTM, will measure business-technology maturity levels to provide a snapshot of how well a business is using technology and how well it makes technology decisions.

?Over the past decade, we?ve witnessed an increase in the number of organizations that realize the need for and value in managing business and technology together,? says Faisal Hoque, founder and CEO of BTM Corp. ?The Baseline/BTM 500 provides an opportunity to rank those companies whose management maturity is at a level where they have experienced the financial benefits of business-technology convergence.? 

The data collection and analysis for the Baseline/BTM 500 is currently under way. We will publish progress reports on the project over the course of the summer, with the full analysis appearing in the October issue of Baseline and here online.