Drive ICT success from the top: study

Effective management of ICT investments was a key factor to success, according to a new Australian study.

The study, Achieving Value from ICT: key management strategies, surveyed 1050 firms from 15 industries.

Helen Coonan, Minister for Communications, IT and the Arts, said that it was clear leadership was essential for making the most of technology.

"ICT needs to be driven from the boardroom not the backroom," Coonan said. "Unless there is recognition at the highest levels of that technology [being] critical to an organisation's ongoing success, and there is the drive and patience to pursue technology strategies from senior management, then the chances of a successful implementation of ICT are significantly lessened."

The study looked at ways ICT could be effectively managed, so that productivity and performance could be improved. Among the benefits to organisational performance that the survey found were: creating competitive advantage, efficiencies and cost savings; and positive organisational change.

The study's executive summary described ICT related benefits as largely being from factors within an organisation's control. "The size of the organisation and the industry that it operates within are not major determinants," according to the report. "Further, realising value is not dependent on the amount spent on ICT or the particular applications or systems that are used."

Instead, the report cited common factors that determined the value obtained from ICT. It found these applied across industries and organisations. Factors included being ICT-aware, open to organisational transformation and the organisation being persistent in realising ICT benefits.