When it comes to measuring return on investment of IT projects, Joe Seibert believes in sticking to the numbers. But convincing others hasn't always been easy. When Seibert joined entertainment and media company Viacom Inc. last year as CIO and introduced his method for calculating ROI, it went over about as well as a box-office bomb. Seibert, who was CIO at CBS Corp. when Viacom acquired the company in May 2000, had developed an IT performance-monitoring process he calls Dashboard, which drew upon his experience as an accountant, software developer, and consultant. But Dashboard's success at Viacom—also parent to Paramount Pictures, Showtime, MTV Networks, and Infiniti Broadcasting—depended on the support of business managers, who were dubious that the process was anything more than busywork. "I smiled when people resisted," says Seibert, figuring others would eventually find value in the results.
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