Abstract
The ever increasing expenditure and investment in information technology (IT)
has been accompanied by an increasing demand to measure the business value
of IT. The impact of IT on improving the productivity and performance of
organisations has been varied. While some organisations have realised gains,
other organisations have found the business value of IT to be elusive. In most
organisations a large portion of senior management’s time is being spent on
finding methods to measure the contribution of the organisations’ IT investments
to business performance. IT investments in organisations are huge and
increasing rapidly year on year and yet there is a lack of understanding of the
impact of proper IT investment evaluation processes and practices in these
organisations. This is applicable to South Africa and thus one can argue that a
detailed program of research into the current practice and process of the
business value of IT in South Africa is warranted.
This masters dissertation which, has evolved from IT evaluation literature, is to
highlight the differences between IT literature and what occurs in practice. The
research objective utilised an existing questionnaire which was sent to large
South African organisations to assess the understanding and activities performed
by these organisations regarding the business value of IT. The aim was to
investigate the business value of IT and benefits management and realisation in
South African organisations so as to highlight the current practices and norms in
this area and to serve as a basis for understanding and communicating findings
and implications for South African organisations in general.
Mrs. D. Groenewald