8 Things We Hate About I.T. Excerpt

8 Things We Hate About I.T. Excerpt

This excerpt exposes IT’s dirty secret that although companies are managing IT spending, they are not managing IT returns.

If IT has a dirty little secret, it’s this: IT accounts for 50 percent of U.S.
capital spending. And even though elaborate systems are in place to show how the
capital is spent, few systems are in place to demonstrate that the capital is well
spent. In other words, although companies are managing IT spending, they are not
managing IT returns. In terms of personal financial management, it’s akin to using
Quicken to track actuals versus budget but never bothering to run the reports that
tally investment returns. Furthermore, if you don’t know your actual returns, you can’t
hold the investment broker accountable for the performance of the portfolio.

Although it seems ludicrous to imagine a meeting with an investment broker that
doesn’t include a discussion of realized returns, this happens every day in IT
prioritization meetings.

This excerpt is from chapter 4 (“You Need Funding, and IT Needs Returns”) of Susan
Cramm’s “8 Things We Hate About I.T.: How to Move Beyond the Frustration to Form a New
Partnership with IT” and was reprinted by permission of Harvard Business Press.
Copyright 2010 Susan Cramm. All rights reserved.

The attached Zip file includes:

• Intro Page.doc
• Cover Sheet and Terms.pdf
• Value Management Excerpt.pdf