After twenty years of research I have found that computers do indeed add a great deal of value to well managed companies. But, computers are not an unqualified blessing. Identical machines, with identical software will make things worse if the enterprise is mismanaged. The proof of these assertions is that computer expenditures and corporate profits show no correlation whatsoever. I can state also that it is unlikely that any such relationship can be ever demonstrated.
Computers are only a catalysts.
Business values are created by well organized, well motivated and knowledgeable people who understand what to do with all of the information that shows up on the computer screens. It would be too much to hope that such phenomenon would be a universal characteristics of all businesses. Computerization accounts for less than one tenth of that total cost. Therefore, it is absurd for a CEO, COO or CFO to demand that the CIO proves how computer budgets relate to profits simply and directly. The best that computerization can deliver is to make Management more effective.