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. Until robots end up running completely automated businesses, computerization and profitability are doomed to remain random scatter diagrams. Reprinted by permission of Computerworld Go back up to the Strassmann, Inc. home page .