Focus on IT costs loses sight of value

UK firms lag behind their European counterparts in assessing return on IT investment

UK IT departments lag behind their European counterparts in their willingness to measure how IT performance affects their wider business, according to a recent survey of 300 IT decision-makers in the UK, France and Germany that found many UK IT departments are still regarded primarily as “cost centres”.

The research report from IT management software giant CA says that cost was the primary measure for the value of IT services, cited by 86 percent of UK respondents, compared with only 37 percent in France and 32 percent in Germany.

The survey, carried out by research firm Vanson Bourne, also found that almost a third of French and German firms measured IT performance against business metrics, such as customer satisfaction, compared with just 17 percent in the UK.

Colin Bannister, enterprise IT management director for CA’s western region, said that even when UK IT departments did try to align IT services with business requirements they tended to focus on delivering operational efficiencies rather than improving customer experience or supporting new product launches, This suggests they still see themselves as “cost centres”, rather than more strategic departments.

“They need to think more about a balanced scorecard that addresses the business value they deliver,” Bannister added.

Separately, CA last week launched updated versions of its CA-IDMS and CA-Datacom mainframe database management suites. The improvements enhance performance, to enable users to manage high-volume processing requirements, and enable higher availability.