Business Technology: Time To Apply 'If You Build It' Principle To ITBusiness Technology: Time To Apply 'If You Build It' Principle To IT

"The problem is that because most IT groups don't have the tools to really analyze performance, they've fallen into a role of always putting out fires. CIOs have to shelve important, strategic projects because they're forced to tackle things like Sarbox, which eats up all of their discretionary budget. So today, the trend is toward punishing IT--the CIO and his team are sitting in the corner with a dunce cap on. It's not fair, but that's what it's like right now."

For example, Suh said, Accenture research shows that while most CIOs place a high priority on having the data showing how much time they waste on preventable problems, less than half are able to fund the projects that would yield that data. And on the flip side, growth initiatives are also put on hold while the firefighting rages. "The pipes are in, but the water pressure is low," Suh wrote in the recent bulletin. "CIOs continue to report underutilization of online technologies. These existing IT assets, originally intended to fuel productivity, are failing to improve IT performance (and overall business performance) because companies have lost the drive to increase utilization of online interactions with customers, suppliers, and employees." Accenture's research shows that only about a third of all supplier interactions that could be online are actually executed that way--the rest still rumble, bumble, and stumble through the swamp of paper, faxes, phone calls, and snail mail.

CIOs who want to get rid of the dunce cap permanently and help their companies focus on profitable growth need to be at the forefront of building the new tools that allow business leaders to select, fund, and support the right initiatives, Suh contended. "When companies are focused on metrics other than cost, they can gain all manner of new insights into what creates business value. And it's the lack of those metrics that's holding back IT investment. If we can create those metrics, the investments will come back."

Hmm--I think there's a movie in there somewhere. I can see it now: "If you build it, they will come..."

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