Product Description

Seventy percent of all IT projects fail—and scores of books have attempted to help firms measure and manage IT systems and processes better in order to turn this figure around

In this book, IT experts Peter D. Weill and Jeanne W. Ross argue that the real reason IT fails to deliver value is that companies have no formal system in place for guiding and monitoring IT decisions.

Their research shows that firms with explicit IT governance systems have twice the profit of firms with poor governance, given the same strategic objectives. Just as corporate governance systems aim to ensure quality decisions about corporate assets, the authors show, companies need IT governance systems to ensure that IT investments are made wisely and effectively.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30487 in Books
• Published on: 2004-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 269 pages

About the Author
Peter Weill is the Director of the Center for Information Systems Research (CISR) and a Senior Research Scientist at MIT’s Sloan School of Management. Jeanne W. Ross is Principal Research Scientist at CISR.

Customer Reviews

Excellent book on IT Governance - must read.
This is an excellent book on IT Governance both as a primer and also as source of reference. IT Governance is very topical at present as organisations look to IT to deliver tangible value to directly improve the bottom line and implementing effective Governance is essential for Business-IT alignment. Peter and Jeanne provide an excellent yet simple framework for designing and implementing IT Governance in any large organisation. Latter chapters on governance mechanisms, best practices (ch 5) and linking strategy, IT governance and performance (ch 6) are particularly insightful.

Real Information about Information Technology
Authors Peter Weill and Jeanne W. Ross provide a thoughtful overview of an important topic - how companies govern information technology and how they can maximize their IT investments. Although computer professionals don’t walk around in white lab coats the way they did in the early 1970s, many corporate cultures tend to isolate IT professionals. Although studies show that companies which govern their IT processes effectively earn higher profits, IT professionals often seem cloistered in their own high-tech priesthood. This book provides a blueprint for harnessing IT and making it the efficient value-generating machine it was always intended to be. You don’t have to wear a pocket-liner, carry a PDA or even know what "http" stands for to benefit from reading this book, which makes a strong case for the importance of solid, goal-aligned IT management. If you sense that your company suffers from a disconnect between its strategy and its IT capabilities, we believe this book could become your firm’s most important piece of low-tech information technology.