The role of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in business can be likened to any of the traditional four pillars of Business (Accounting, Human Resources, Administration and Executive) in that it is a unit within the organization that provides support to the entire operation of the enterprise. In this way, businesses need to view the cost of ICT in the same way that they view the cost of the four pillars, that is, as an essential operational cost of doing business. ICT should be viewed as the fifth pillar of modern businesses.

Typically, new technology and new ways of using technology are introduced into the business by way of ICT Projects. The typical lifecycle of an ICT project is: Concept, Approval, Budget, Development, Testing, Implementation, Acceptance, and in some cases, right back to Concept in the context of the Continual Improvement methodology.

When an ICT Project moves to acceptance, there is usually a handover from project to operation where the incumbent IT division of an organization takes over the management and maintenance of the outcome(s) of the ICT Project and, more often than not, the ICT Project Team moves on to the next project.

Generally, the Concept will come from the business or from IT and will be managed independently and, often, governed according ot the business unit that accepted the project concept/proposal. In this model, particularly for large organizations, there is often the observation that several disparate business units will undertake similar ICT Projects concurently or without considering the output of a previously implemented ICT Project. This is costly, inefficient, and has the potential to fragment the business.

Where we believe that organizations are moving today is in the area of the Concept and Approval process. Organizations are beginning to see the need for the creation of a role or team within the organization that manages this from a strategic viewpoint. This role within the organization is engaged by the business (or any of the five pillars of the business) to analyse a technology and develop a business plan that will result in the delivery of an IT Project Scope, creating an ICT Project Team and reporting to the Executive.

What we are seeing is that organizations are getting smarter about how they do ICT Projects, but not necessarily in how they use their ICT. The brass ring for modern enterprise is maximising the value of their ICT investment, not minimising what ICT they invest in.