Thomas Davenport and Jeanne Harris wrote an article named "As Information Flows, So Flows Value." It summarizes a quantitative survey of 163 companies about their IT enterprise systems. This study was conducted by the Accenture's Institute for Strategic Change.
They start with a very simple statement.
Getting the most from IT investments has never been more critical. You'll need to keep pushing software integration, use current resources wisely, and fix weak business processes.
And here is a brief summary of the Accenture's report.
We found that many businesses initially approached their initiative as a mammoth deal, or a one-time project to be accomplished quickly. Executives viewed their role as bringing together and overseeing the necessary resources -- money, skilled people, technology, and time -- to build a new capability. Wrong. Although those investments are important prerequisites, they're a long way from the finished product. Our research reveals that substantial benefits are realized only when an organization creatively takes the raw components, claims them as its own, and directs them to meet a unique business vision. To maximize the benefits of enterprise systems, companies must:
- Integrate -- connect organizational units, systems, and processes.
- Optimize -- standardize most processes using best practices embodied in enterprise-solutions software. Tailor strategic and unique processes to fit business needs.
- Inform -- use information to transform work.
Apparently, many companies are revisiting their IT enterprise systems these days, mainly because of the tough economic climate. But also because the deployment of these huge IT systems didn't bring the benefits these companies were expecting. This chart illustrates their concerns.
For more details, please read the whole article.
Source: Thomas Davenport and Jeanne Harris, for Optimize, November 2002, Issue 13
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