23 February 2005 The relationship between business and IT managers is improving, in spite of nearly a third of all managers experiencing IT project failures, according to a survey by consulting firm Accenture.

The survey, based on 300 business and IT managers from companies in UK and Ireland, found that 56 percent of business managers and over a third of IT managers believed that IT is under-delivering against investments. But almost half of all managers acknowledge that insufficient time is given to ensuring IT spend is linked to business value.

Despite this, over three quarters of all managers believe that better use of technology has helped achieve higher levels of productivity over the last three years.

“Aligning IT strategies to business objectives is one of the most fundamental factors in deriving value from technology,” said Andrew Morlet, head of strategic IT effectiveness practice at Accenture.

The failure to align both business and technology groups increased the risk of project failure, according to the survey. Only 17 percent of managers believed that the alignment of goals of their organisations was ‘strong’ or ‘totally aligned’.

But the study concluded that the historic tension between managers has largely disappeared. “Fortunately, business and IT managers are beginning to get over the ‘us versus them’ mentality,” said Morlet.

“The strong agreement between business and IT management on the nature of the challenge is encouraging and supports our view that substantial IT-based productivity gains are possible.”