10-ROI for IT?

What have most end-use enterprise executives learned over the past ten years about return on IT investments?

THE PROMISE AND REALITY OF IT INVESTMENTS

Each new wave of information technology arrives with a unique set of opportunities.

The arrival of mainframes gave many firms unprecedented ability to control the fundamentals of their businesses, in particular, inventory and accounting. However, this opportunity demanded mastery of software development.

Minicomputers and packaged software gave many firms the ability to automate specialized business processes and departments, such as human resources and manufacturing. This opportunity required new investments in training.

Personal computers, packaged software, and local area networks enabled many firms to eliminate typing pools and clerical staff. This opportunity required new investments in industry-standard hardware and software, as well as in user support and help desks.

The Internet enables many firms to engage customers worldwide 24×7, reducing costs and time-to-market cycles. This opportunity still requires huge investments in specialized IT infrastructure and in reengineering core business processes.

20-20 INSIGHT

GISTICS’ research of hundreds of deployed systems at 15,000+ end-use firms reveals that bottom-up automation solutions yield the highest return on investment when compared to other options. Why? Workflow and workgroup automation rarely addresses more than a small, tightly focused group of users.

The figures below depict five different classes of IT investments, positioned relative to time to breakeven, return of investment, business-process cycle time improvement, and embedded process knowledge

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