IT highly valued, but still not a major contributor to innovation

 
ITGI offers help to improve IT in companies

Eighty-seven percent of senior executives believe that information technology (IT) is important to their organization, according to a global survey commissioned by the IT Governance Institute (ITGI). However, more than half do not feel that IT is an important contributor to innovation, underlining an opportunity for IT to increase its value as a strategic partner. Additionally, nearly half of all organizations do not measure the value they are achieving from IT.
 
More than 250 non-IT executives in 22 countries were interviewed by PricewaterhouseCoopers Belgium to determine their views on IT’s contribution to the business and how their enterprises are governing their IT. Full results of the survey are available in a report titled An Executive View of IT Governance, available as a free download at www.itgi.org.
 
The ITGI study revealed that 59 percent do not view IT’s contribution to innovation as important or very important, although a significant majority recognize IT as a major contributor in its traditional strongholds: efficiency and effectiveness. Only a third of enterprises rely on their IT department to provide information about potential business opportunities enabled by new technologies, a key benefit of innovation.
 
Executives reported that the organization’s culture and a lack of the right skill base are among the top barriers to achieving value.
 
ITGI, a nonprofit, independent research organization affiliated with the professional association ISACA, also found that executives do not believe that IT managers are communicating new opportunities to the business—this finding was in contrast to a 2008 study of IT managers, who reported that they provide the business with frequent information. A solution, according to ITGI, is to include the chief information officer (CIO) on the executive team—40 percent of respondents do not currently do this or do not have a CIO.

Quelle: The IT Governance Institute (ITGI)