Companies that have an IT director on the board take their
IT strategy more seriously according to a new survey from the UK’s National
Computing Centre.
The survey of 1,246 senior IT decision makers found that
organisations without board level IT representation suffer more problems with
the development and implementation of an IT strategy.
However the IT management function is under-represented in
many organisations with 39 per cent having no formal IT representation at board
level and only a quarter of UK organisations employing a dedicated IT director.
The survey shows that organisations where IT is represented
by an IT director were more likely to report a more business driven approach to
new IT.
David Masding, operations director at NCC, said, “Where the
IT function has direct access to the board, IT is seen as a key issue. These
organisations tend to be adopting IT more aggressively. Where IT is not
formally represented on the board, it tends to be left in the background, and
these organisations face more problems with the development and implementation
of the IT strategy. The message to senior management is clear – ignore IT
management at your peril.”
The survey of IT Decision Makers was conducted by NCC in
collaboration with Computer Weekly.
By Katie Hawkins
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