Return of Tangibles in ROI-dom

 

"The hardest thing in marketing is justifying what you do."

Thus lamented a senior marketing director of an enterprise risk management solutions provider. This reverberates with John Wanamaker's famous quote, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is, I don't know which half."

No wonder the return on investment on marketing dollars is becoming a hot topic. IT projects are also getting similarly challenged to justify investment because even though the demand for IT services is high, the funding for them is increasingly coming under the microscope.

There are many reasons why CEOs and CFOs are asking tough questions regarding the investment in IT projects. One reason is the changed economic conditions that have put a premium on cost cutting and improved productivity. Another reason is the increased uncertainty about the completion and success rate of IT projects. A recent study by the Center for Project Management in San Ramon, Calif.,says that close to 40 percent of IT projects fail or are abandoned before completion. Whether true or not, the general impression is that these numbers are quite high and are contributing to the increased scrutiny of IT projects.

Oh, the Good Old Past!
During the rapid growth era--or if you prefer, the "bubble"--of the late 1990s, IT departments were usually able to deploy high-tech projects and software …

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