【正文】 performance in providing agreedto levels of service. Renegotiating the Service Level Agreement Accurate cost data provides information for negotiating future SLAs. Financial management is responsible for providing input for the prices that are negotiated with customers. In order to recover all operating costs from customers (or realize a profit if the IT department is a profit。 in recent times, however, IT has assumed greater importance as a revenue and profit center. ITIL and MOF encourage this view of IT service provision because it enpasses the entire financial picture with regard to defining, analyzing, building, and operating these services. This forms a very sound foundation for strategic business and market planning. 2 Introduction This guide provides detailed information about the Financial Management service management function (SMF) for anizations that have deployed, or are considering deploying, Microsoft technologies in a data center or other type of enterprise puting environment. This is one of the more than 20 SMFs defined and described in Microsoft Operations Framework (MOF). The guide assumes that the reader is familiar with the intent, background, and fundamental concepts of MOF as well as the Microsoft technologies discussed. An overview of MOF and its panion, Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF), is available in the MOF Service Management Function Overview guide. This guide also provides abstracts of each of the service management functions defined within MOF. Detailed information about the concepts and principles of each of the frameworks is also available in technical papers available at 3 Financial Management Overview The objective of the financial management process is the sound management of moary resources in support of anizational goals. Financial data provides the expense, or cost, side of the equation for making business decisions regarding changes in the IT infrastructure, systems, staffing, or processes. A properly functioning financial management process helps IT managers to make betterinformed decisions for IT planning and investment. The financial management process can also help to answer the infamous ―Why does it cost so much?‖ question that customers of IT operations inevitably ask. Informed customers better understand the costs of IT services. Components of Financial Management The following figure shows the primary areas of financial management: cost accounting, budgeting, project investment appraisals, and—in some anizations—cost recovery. F i n a n c i a lm a n a g e m e n tC o s ta c c o u n t i n gC o s tr e c o v e r yB u d g e t i n gP r o j e c ti n v e s t m e n ta p p r a i s a l s Figure 1. Financial management process Cost accounting is the monitoring activity of the financial management process. This activity involves the identification of assets and activities (cost elements) to which costs can be assigned. It also involves the development of cost allocation schemes whereby the costs related to each cost element are distributed fairly and equitably to customers. Cost accounting is responsible for developing financial reports for management. Budgeting is the planning activity of the financial management process. When developing budgets, managers plan future activities and assess the performance of current activities. The financial manager must gather information from a number of sources, including each anizational department that uses IT services and each service management function (SMF) within the IT department. Budgeting requires a great amount of munication and coordination, which has the indirect benefit of aligning the IT department’s goals and objectives to meet anizational requirements. 6 Financial Management Project investment analysis is the analyzing activity of the financial management process. The IT department is called upon to evaluate the costs and benefits of proposed changes. Methods of analyzing the financial impact of a change include payback period, present value, return on investment, total cost of ownership, and real cost of ownership. Each method offers advantages and disadvantages. No one method is best for evaluating all changes. Cost recovery is the chargeback activity of the financial management process. The IT anization charges the costs of services back to the users of those services. This activity involves the development of chargeback methods and the billing of costs to customers. Benefits of Financial Management With the surge in IT outsourcing, application hosting, and emerce, proper financial management practices are being integral to business operations. Implementing a formalized financial management process generates benefits in cost visibility, planning, optimization, and cost recovery. The purpose of a pany is to return a profit to the shareholders. The purpose of a nonprofit or governmental anization is to achieve its stated goals and objectives within budget. The sole reason for the IT department’s existence is to support the business in achieving these goals. While those in information technology may enjoy technology。 Operations Framework (MOF) address are its linkage to other service management functions. The links to other service management functions include the Configuration Management, Change Management, Release Management, and Availability Management SMFs. Financial management provides the expense, or cost, side of the equation for making a business decision with regard to changes in the IT infrastructure, systems, staffing, or processes. Knowing the costs of configuration and change request items is key to making intelligent business decisions. Financial management also addresses the revenue, or benefits, side of the financial equation. Historically, IT has been largely viewed as merely a cost cen