Justifying IT system investments

摘要

One person may see an IT system investment as unavoidable expenditure,while another may see it as an investment and expect a return at least as high as the return on capital employed.The decision process may also be influenced by political criteria at the expense of rational justifications,which presents a challenge for the choice and use of formal evaluation methods.Nevertheless,these tools can be used successfully if there is sufficient knowledge of the phenomenon being examined.For example,in the cost-benefit analysis of IT projects,failure to identify the benefits will simply result in a detailed description of the project's costs.Focusing on both macro- and micro-level issues,this paper takes a look at the phenomena and challenges involved in decision processes when justifying IT investments.