The Proceedings of the Conference on Information Systems Applied Research 2009: §1543 Home Papers/Indices prev (§1542) Next (§1544)

Thu, Nov 5, 1:30 - 1:55, Crystal 4 Paper (refereed)

Recommended Citation: Oliver, A, J Barrick, and T N Janicki. Difficulties in Quantifying IT Projects with Intangible Benefits: A Survey of Local IT Professionals. In The Proceedings of the Conference on Information Systems Applied Research 2009, v 2 (Washington DC): §1543. ISSN: 0000-0000.

Difficulties in Quantifying IT Projects with Intangible Benefits: A Survey of Local IT Professionals

Refereed

12 pages

Alisha Oliver [a1] [a2]
Charlotte, North Carolina, USA [c1] [c2]

Jesse Barrick    [a1] [a2]
University of North Carolina Greensboro    [u1] [u2]
Greensboro, North Carolina, USA    [c1] [c2]

Thomas N. Janicki    [a1] [a2]
Information Systems Department
University of North Carolina Wilmington    [u1] [u2]
Wilmington, North Carolina, USA    [c1] [c2]

As Information Technology (IT) investments increase in number/costs for organizations, the need to provide financial justification for these projects also increases. IT investments must compete with the other organization’s projects for priority within the portfolio of possible strategic investments. Creating an even more difficult challenge, information technology and business unit managers often must attempt to define and justify IT project investments that have a high percentage of their return being in the form of ‘intangible benefits’. This research summarizes a survey of IT professionals involved in project selection, development, justification and approval. Particular attention is given to the measurement and justification of projects where the main benefit may not be easily quantified by traditional financial measurement tools. Key findings: include the value of intangible benefits in every applicable IT project, tie intangibles to corporate strategies, and build a process for ‘post’ quantification of intangible benefits after a project has been implemented.

Keywords: IT Investment, IT Project Justification, Project Intangible Benefits

Read this refereed paper in Adobe Portable Document (PDF) format. (12 pages, 640 K bytes)
Preview this refereed paper in Plain Text (TXT) format. (31 K bytes)

CDpic
Comments and corrections to
webmaster@isedj.org