What the Board Needs to Know About IT: Phase II

"The Board and Information Technology Strategies: Maximizing Performance through IT Strategy” is the latest report in Deloitte Consulting LLP’s (Deloitte Consulting's) research initiative to explore how boards of directors are approaching information technology (IT). The report, conducted in collaboration with Corporate Board Member magazine, represents the culmination of 14 months of research and includes responses from more than 450 directors of publicly traded global companies with revenues of more than $1 billion USD.
Phase II highlights “Eight Big Ideas” with respect to maximizing performance through IT strategy:

1. IT is a hot topic – and more and more directors are beginning to recognize its intrinsic value.
2. Attention to IT strategy at the board level, and to measuring and monitoring the value of IT, correlates to better business performance.
3. Directors lack adequate information on IT strategy.
4. When director involvement in IT heightens, understanding of its role in strategy deepens, and IT becomes more effective in supporting the business.
5. Boards today understand IT as a value lever and expect to spend more time on IT strategy in the future.
6. Boards recognize the importance of having an IT strategy, yet they still aren’t talking about IT in the boardroom.
7. Directors must improve how their companies measure and monitor the value of IT.
8. It’s important to have chief information officers and chief technology officers who are conduits to the board and can talk in the language of “business” rather than “technology.”