Information Technology Evaluation Methods and Management

The evaluation of information technology and its business value are the subjects of many academic and business discussions. Investments in IT are growing extensively and business managers worry whether the benefits derived might not be as high as expected. This phenomenon is often called the IT investment paradox or the IT Black Hole: large sums of money are invested in IT that seem to be swallowed by a large black hole without rendering much return. How to measure the benefits of IT is the concern of Technology Evaluation Methods and Management. Different IT evaluation approaches and methods are discussed and illustrated with cases: traditional financial evaluations such as the return on investment, information economics and the recently introduced IT Balanced Scorecard. The latter approach is proposed as an ideal mechanism to support the IT/business alignment process and its related IT governance process.