Are IT teams struggling to cope with project demands?

Finance directors at UK businesses are keen to kick off new IT projects but are unsure whether their staff are up to the job.

The research commissioned by interim management firm Robert Half Management Resources found that nearly half (45 per cent) of FDs see IT as their biggest expenditure and are planning major projects for the next 12 months.

Two out of five are planning a major business process re-engineering (BPR) project, while one in five plan major enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementations.

But nearly two thirds (68 per cent) are not confident the projects will be a success, with 38 per cent saying they do not have enough time to dedicate to the project to make it wholly viable.

And 30 per cent are concerned that their staff do not have the right skills to implement or run the project effectively.

Phil Sheridan, UK district director at Robert Half Management Resources, said in a statement: "What's worrying about these results is that although FDs are aware of the huge benefits particular IT systems can bring to a business, they're being scuppered by insufficient internal resource.

"Few FDs could expect to have an IT department that has enough capacity to accommodate such huge projects but this should not equate to projects being shelved."

The survey also found that two out of three FDs (65 per cent) said regulation, such as Sarbanes-Oxley and IFRS, has "changed the content of the job dramatically" even though just 31 per cent of companies questioned were actually impacted by the rules.