Six IT Decisions Your IT People Shouldn’t Make

Jeanne Ross and Peter Weill describe the six IT decisions that your IT people should not make because they will incapacitate your organization while seeking to reach the highest potential by implementing various information technologies. IT investments most successfully generate returns that are as much as 40% higher than those of their competitors. This is significant if you intent to remain successful in the market.

Well, it is interesting when you hear many executives complain about their investment into technology, yet they were the ones who approved the RFP and project initiation then implementation. It is also interesting when you hear executive complain because they cannot realize the difference it makes in their organization despite the successful implementation and high ratio for return on investment. Anyway, I think it has to do with the fact which way they look at technology and how they align it with their corporate strategy. Of course you may not see the immediate value if you are seeking a short-term solution but if you are seeking a long-term solution, it may not generate the ROI immediately but it will in a long run.

Should you rather implement short-term solutions or long-term solutions? I remember being on a project that involved either developing or purchasing IT software that would enable the nine districts of the organization to place orders for highway and road signs while allowing to better manage expenditures, production cost and inventory. Money wasn’t the major concern; however, the executive sponsor wanted this project to be the top priority for the IT people but the prioritization process had already taken place a few months prior and the budgeting had been established. It created a lot of hassle and somewhat a small conflict between the IT director and the OD director which business processes should receive our IT dollars. One thing I do remember is that during the planning session, IT never posed questions related to decision-making.