What do business managers expect from information technology?
A study by international market research institute IDC has looked into this question and found that high costs are not the main issue – just as long as the IT is effective. The idea that business managers must have considerable IT knowledge is also gaining ground. The rigid boundaries between business expertise and IT knowledge are becoming blurred. On this point, at least, all the industries questioned in the study agree, says Angela Vacca, author of the study “What Business Managers Want (From IT) – An IDC Western European Vertical Market Survey 2007”: “The priorities of business managers and IT managers are gradually coming closer.” After all, the business manager needs to be able to understand the IT manager – and vice versa. Consequently, business manager are increasingly seeing IT as a prerequisite for their business processes, and costs take on a secondary role. According to Vacca, it is far more important for the IT to help the company gain a competitive advantage. For the stud
