In recent years, information technology has skyrocketed in capability and plunged in cost.
Increasing competition in the market place is compelling organizations to continuously search
for new and better methods for reducing cost and increasing productivity. Information
technology (IT) has become one accepted vehicle for enabling key business process changes
that can give an organization an edge over its competition (3). IT and business, as we all know
always closely intertwined, are now becoming virtually inseparable. In fact, it is difficult to
imagine a business today that does not in some way rely on IT as a foundation for its success.
At the same time, IT continues to change rapidly. While maintaining their traditional role of
increasing organizational efficiency and effectiveness, IT departments are now often required
to lead businesses into new industry structures and markets. In fact, recent study conducted
by The Economist Intelligence Unit, called “Assessing the strategic value of information
technology, planning perspectives for Sr.Executives,” (2), indicated that an increasing number
of business executives plan to leverage their IT investments and balance their IT goals toward
allocating technology investments to programs aimed at reaching new markets or changing
industry and market practices, as opposed to using technology simply for efficiency or
effectiveness purposes. Because IT systems are also the production line of today’s online
business, IT failures are now business failures, suggesting the need for more rigor in IT
management. Clearly, the management of IT is no longer solely an IT issue- it is a business
management issue of great interest to CEOs and CIOs alike. On top of that, IT management
must realize the potential of new IT while avoiding its risks. Mistakes can be costly, and it is
virtually impossible to have experts on all emerging ITs (3). Combined with rapid IT change,
lengthy acquisition and implementation processes can obsolete many ITs before they ever