Executives’ Views on IT Hurt Spending

That’s the title and the conclusion of an article on Forbes.com this week, which describes a recently released study from consultants Bain & Co. The study found that 70 percent of senior executives at large corporations agree that information technology is relevant to growth. But, at the same time, 60 percent say IT is actually inhibiting their efforts toward growth. As a result, some companies are reducing technology spending. In fact, the study found that companies where executives view IT as an enabler to growth spend 7.4 percent of revenue on IT; companies whose execs see IT as an inhibitor spend only 4.7 percent.

According to Forbes, Bain analysts say the problem comes from not having business and IT aligned — since 203 of the 359 executives surveyed said that the lack of information was a key reason they felt that IT was a growth inhibitor. If the CEOs of the world read this story and take it to heart, they may be ready to find out how to pursue that alignment. Get them started by sharing some alignment stories from our archives:

• In a Sound Off column we asked: What is standing between you and alignment? Why is it so hard? More than 30 readers posted responses.
• In IT/Business Alignment: Delivering Results, IDC analysts suggest the need to consider six alignment perspectives to ensure the development of symbiotic relationships, with key questions to ask yourself.
• In The Biggest Threat to CIO Success, CIO magazine’s Editor in Chief Abbie Lundberg explains why corporate IT will only be successful when all the business stakeholders agree on what is most important, and then agree on how things should be prioritized.
• In By the Numbers, research shows that aligning IT and business functions saves money. This article also links to an alignment self-assessment.

Good luck!