Priorities Out Of Order

The beginning of a new year is a perfect time for businesses to assess their objectives and define which projects should take precedence in the coming 12 months. Unfortunately, all too often, IT professionals complain that corporate technology priorities are out of order. In the Systems Management Pipeline poll conducted over several weeks in December, only 18 percent of the respondents said their companies have the right IT projects properly prioritized in their 2006 budget.More than one-third of the Systems Management Pipeline readers who responded to the poll said that the budgeted 2006 IT initiatives are totally out of synch with what their IT priorities should be. This indicates that as much progress as companies are making to align their IT and business teams, there are still big gaps in both groups' understanding of the other team's objectives.

Others complained less about the way their companies prioritized IT projects than how those initiatives are being funded. Forty-five percent said that while the right projects are being prioritized in 2006, there is not enough money allocated to carry them out properly. Obviously, enterprises have a ways to go before IT and business managers are on the same page. Drop me a line at [email protected] and let me know if your business has its 2006 IT priorities in order.