1.1 Introduction

The issue is how do you justify more money on IT when you are trying to manage all costs down. You may have to accept that IT goes the other way. It s understanding that need and how you justify it that is the key.

Leslie Holt,

IT Director, Membership, Automobile Association

People measure what they can and the givens, for example systems availability, not what they need. It s difficult but it s about measuring business impact, and information achievement, not just technology achievement.

Robert White, Lucidus

There are mosquito bites and snake bites. Good managers can tell the difference.

J. Titsworth, Vice-president, Xerox

The last decade has witnessed enormous increases in information technology (IT) investments around the world, with information-based technologies penetrating ever more deeply into the core of organizational functioning. In fact, the IT industry has grown through infancy to lumbering, ungainly adolescence in a mere five decades. In the process of examining the problems resulting from this rapid growth, we will see how the industry is not mature, and how it will grow at increasing speeds for at least a decade to come creating real challenges for the understanding and measurement of IT and e-business costs, risks, benefits and value.

In 1995, according to research company IDC, the worldwide IT market was US$530 billion. This covered packaged software, data communications equipment, services, and single and multi-user systems. On a wider definition of IT to include voice telecommunications, special purpose computer equipment (e.g. automatic teller machines, mail sorting systems) and customer expenditure...