Evaluating IT investments – matching techniques to projects

Abstract

This paper presents part of a three-year Kobler Unit study into current practices of managing IT investments involving 60 managers from 34 British companies. Guidelines were collected to assess the true costs of deploying IT, taking into account technological costs, human costs and organizational costs. By identifying examples of best practice, an evaluation methodology was then developed which concentrates on both the primary objectives of systems and on the inevitable second-order effects resulting from the broader human and organizational impact. The methodology is eclectic in that it matches specific evaluation techniques to distinct classes of IT projects.