Most manufacturers still don’t know impact of IT on their businesses

More than half of UK IT directors apparently do not understand how their IT infrastructure impacts their businesses. While the majority do track the performance of their IT systems themselves, they don’t know how this relates to business performance. This is among key findings of research commissioned by business service management software firm Managed Objects, and carried out by Vanson Bourne among 100 UK IT directors across industry and commerce. Manufacturers came out worst, with just 40% measuring and analysing how new technology impacts their business performance, and the fear is they cannot be getting best value from their systems. On the face of it, the report’s findings are something of a surprise. 70% of manufacturing IT directors do see the value of measurement, noting that it at least helps them justify expenditure. Yet the apparent fact is they largely still don’t go beyond their own ‘domains’. It may not be quite as bad as the report concludes. In fact, the study asked its respondents if they had software tools to analyse the impact of their IT infrastructures on business performance. Clearly, there are other ways – but they ain’t easy. Either way, as companies struggle to “dig themselves out of the economic gloom,” as the report puts it, there are worrying implications here. As Sean Larner, Managed Objects’ European operations manager says, “Unless organisations can see how their IT supports the business, how can they ensure that they’re getting real value from the technology infrastructure?” Additionally, since business managers are, rightly, increasingly demanding proof of ROI for IT, it’s surely incumbent on all of us to be able to demonstrate that. And if we can’t, don’t do it. As Larner puts it: “To protect and expand IT budgets senior IT professionals should act now to garner the evidence of technology’s business value.” The report finds the finance industry ahead of the game here. “Its professionals have long considered that the early adoption and deployment of IT can make the difference between winning and losing.”