May 23, 2002

Microsoft: Business Value Summit Helps IT Leaders, Organizations Realize Full Potential of Technology Investments

Microsoft's 2nd annual Business Value Summit gathered more than 200 IT executives, technology industry analysts and Microsoft employees. After investing in IT for decades and spending mightily to avert Y2K problems, the top brass at many companies now want quantified dividends from their IT investments. Just as they scrutinize other capital expenditures, directors are demanding measurable returns on their technology investments. The current economic slowdown has only magnified their desire to ensure that IT investment not only creates value, but also delivers business advantage.

Speakers at the summit -- including leading academics, IT analysts and business directors -- see the boardroom concerns as an indication that businesses are still struggling with how to strategically invest and implement IT. To overcome this, conference participants agreed that business leaders must be able to quantify the value of IT in their own parlance. Speakers called for new ways to improve communications between business-focused CEOs and technology-focused CIOs, some pointing to tools such as Microsoft's Rapid Economic Justification (REJ) model as the way to get business leaders on the same page and to ensure IT investments align with the overall goals of the business. (get more information)

0 comments