According to Carl Williams

According to Carl Williams, the reason that led to the dismissal of Davies was that his ideas did not seem to work according with expectations. Many businesses have been operating without the use of IT. Therefore, some leaders in business may not appreciate the role played by this department in modern times. Leaders in the IT department are under constant pressure in order to demonstrate to the leadership of their companies the value added to the business by their departments. Barton was promoted to be the new CIO as a way of bringing in fresh idea to the department. Fresh approaches are necessary to ensure that all activities are geared toward achieving the primary objectives of the firm. He was a very strong critic of Davies and the management had confidence in him.

The value of IT in business is often not appreciated because it is relatively difficult to quantify the value of return of investments made in this department. There are various investments in any business. There are those that that help maintain the company’s place in business and those that offer it a competing edge. Businesses allocate funds to the IT department and it is not clear how the funds are divided between the two categories. It would be easier to get this quantification with the help of a finance arm in the IT department. Moreover, there should be a priority of the projects that should be financed using the funds allocated to the department.

Investment in IT may not necessarily solve problems in the business. There are times when you would make unpopular decisions and they eventually turn out well. There may be other instances when a popular idea fails to deliver the desired outcome when implemented. Sometimes success may be as a result of a good luck and not the efforts made by an individual. Huge investment may be made in preventive measures but still things turn out wrong. Therefore, investment in IT may not avert some of the problems that are planned in a business setting. This may be the reason why some companies fail to make investments in IT, despite the advantages that have been linked with the use of technology.

The strategic grid is a method that used to evaluate if the IT departments adds any value to a business. The strategic grid groups investment in IT in four categories namely such as strategic, turnaround, factory and support. The classification allows businesses to determine if investment in IT is in line with the overall goals of the company as a whole. With increasing competition, there are more companies investing in IT as a way of enhancing their strategic positioning. Many businesses are making use of IT in order to enhance their competitiveness in the future. It is also required to maintain the current position in the market by lowering costs and enhancing efficiency and productivity. Support to individuals may be necessary to improve performance although it is not critical for the current business.

It is not right to gauge qualifiers and competes percentages in applications. It is important to evaluate each application on the basis of the two categories. This will only be possible with the involvement of the finance department. The leadership of the business will make its decision of investing in the proposal based on the value that will be gained from the proposed investment. The investment will only be attractive if it contributes to the overall objectives of the business. Indeed, it is very hard to determine how the investment made in a given department in the project will eventually have an impact on the company as a whole. Thus, one has to look at the specifics so as to determine the contribution of investing in the said department.