Strategic Information Management, 3rd Edition

9 Evaluating the Outcomes ofInformation Systems Plans

Managing information technologyevaluation – techniques andprocesses*

L. P. Willcocks

As far as I am concerned we could write off our IT expenditure over the last five years to the training budget. (Senior executive, quoted by Earl, 1990)

. . . the area of measurement is the biggest single failure of information systems while it is the single biggest issue in front of our board of directors. I am frustrated by our inability to measure cost and benefit. (Head of IT: AT & T quoted in Coleman and Jamieson, 1991)

Introduction

Information Technology (IT) now represents substantial financial investment. By 1993, UK company expenditure on IT was exceeding £12 billion per year, equivalent to an average ...