Changing the Future of Business IT

by Thomas Jackson

We are all too aware that information systems (IS) are taking too long to develop, costing too much to produce and maintain, and are frequently not perceived to be delivering the business benefits that were intended. So, the multimillion-dollar question is, "How do organizations change the future of their IT development to overcome these problems?" There are many answers to this question, but I believe the "people factor" is at the heart of the problem. After studying organizations and their IT departments, I found that there are several common human factors affecting the outcome of IT development. Addressing these potential obstacles will enable IT departments to become more effective by reducing many of the issues that currently occur in IS developments.