Global Executive Survey: IT Highly Valued, But Still Not a Major Contributor to Innovation.

ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill. -- Eighty-seven percent of senior executives believe that information technology (IT) is important to their organization, according to a global survey commissioned by the IT Governance Institute (ITGI). However, more than half do not feel that IT is an important contributor to innovation, which creates new opportunities for IT to be used as a strategic partner. Additionally, nearly half do not measure the value achieved from IT.

More than 250 non-IT executives in 22 countries were interviewed by PricewaterhouseCoopers Belgium regarding IT's contribution to their business and how they govern IT. Results are in An Executive View of IT Governance, a free download from www.itgi.org.

The ITGI study revealed that 59 percent do not view IT's contribution to innovation as important or very important, although a significant majority recognize IT as a major contributor to efficiency and effectiveness. Only a third rely on their IT department to inform them about business opportunities enabled by new technologies, a key benefit of innovation.

"Executive management recognizes the value of IT investments, but there is a significant lost opportunity that can be closed by measuring that value and paying more attention to IT's contributions to innovation," said John Thorp, of ITGI's IT Governance Committee. "Given the economic climate, enterprises should strengthen their governance of IT to ensure expenditures deliver real value, reduce underperformers and pursue innovative uses of IT that can increase value."

Executives reported that organizational culture and a lack of the right skills are top barriers to achieving value.

"Fortunately, executives have the power to reduce these barriers," said Robert Stroud, international vice president of ITGI and vice president at CA Inc. "They can ensure that training is available, and they can set the tone at the top to support culture change."

ITGI, a nonprofit, independent research organization affiliated with the professional association ISACA, also found that executives don't believe that IT managers communicate opportunities to the business--this finding is in contrast to a 2008 study of IT managers, who reported that they provide the business with frequent information. A solution, according to ITGI, is to include the CIO on the executive team--40 percent of respondents do not do this or do not have a CIO.

Based on the challenges identified in the survey, ITGI suggests:

* Take ownership of IT governance and assume accountability over IT.

* Make the CIO reporting line as direct as possible to the top executive decision body.

* Pay more attention to the innovation IT can offer.

* Measure the value that IT brings to the enterprise.

Additional guidance is in the Val IT best practices framework--a free download from www.itgi.org. Val IT is a set of proven practices that help enterprises ensure that they realize value from their investments in IT and IT-enabled change.