Unlocking sustained business value from IT investments

Surveys continue to highlight that most senior business executives aredissatisfied with the value they believe their organizations are deriving frominvestments in information technology. What is often forgotten is that IT initself has no inherent value. This value must be unlocked, and only businessexecutives and users can do this. While most IT investments are usuallyaccompanied by a technology implementation plan, few organizations everconstruct a plan focused on realizing the business benefits. This articleexplores how organizations can unlock business value from their IT investmentsby adopting a two-stage view of implementation. This model distinguishes between"problem-based" interventions and "innovation-based" interventions. Unlockingbusiness value from IT investments is a journey not a destination and thisjourney requires careful planning.