By Tony Hallett, 16 February 2000 00:15
NEWS IT is becoming increasingly important to companies, but most boards fail to take it seriously enough, according to a survey from consultancy Orb. Speaking in an interview with Silicon.com, Mike Overgage, Orb's commercial director, said there is a correlation between a company's attitude to IT and metrics such as market valuation and price-to-earnings ratios. A survey of 200 large UK companies found over 50 per cent do not consider IT a top-level boardroom issue. "I'm quite perplexed, because given the amount of money spent on IT and given the impact bad IT can have on corporate performance, it really is quite surprising 50 per cent don't take it seriously enough," he said. Overgage added: "Some senior business people see IT as something they don't have to understand." However, while he said it is important for these senior people to understand at least the processes behind technology, IT departments themselves are not without blame. He said they often retreat to their ivory towers and don't show enough interest in other parts of the business. Overgage advised organisations to strive for three goals: recognising the importance of IT, making sure there is a board level IT director, and including IT in the early part of any strategic planning. You can watch the full interview in our IT Director Channel (http://www.silicon.com/a35760 ).
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