Once you get to the point where the organization has a mature IT allocation process, there are two things that happen next. The first is a war over the allocation dollars. The second is when clients understand the allocation process well enough that clients learn how to game the system.
Let’s talk about wars first. Wars are really just disagreements between the clients. Unfortunately for you, those clients are important to your career and you want them to be happy as it impacts their image of you. The easy way out would be for you to let the most senior voice win the war. This breeds inconsistent policies and further griping. It also isn’t the mark of a professional.
When handling a disagreement over technology charge, information is your friend. You undoubtedly have volumes of information at your fingertips. What’s the main complaint? If the system is too expensive, it’s not an allocation issue. That’s about direct cost. If a client doesn’t think they use the system to the extent they are being charged; also easy. You should always have your usage stats handy. More commonly, a business sees the overall tab and thinks they should pay less than another business. This is rarely based on fact. Your job is to explain the charging methodology in layman’s terms. Ideally you lays this out to all clients of the service at once. In allocations, a down tick to one client means an uptick to another. Use that friction to your advantage. The rest of the clients will naturally push back, saving you some political capital.
Remember, you need to have some backbone in this process. You aren’t being paid for your good looks. You are being paid to drive behavior in the organization. When the methodology and data dictate a charge, it’s your job to enforce.