One business unit may need to update a document control system, another may be updating CAD systems to the latest and the greatest. As technology has moved light-years past office automation, so do most firms concede the need for measuring the return on investment for technology. They also concede how difficult it can be. Some things, such as improved communications, you just can't measure. Most firms say they prefer to stay one step off the cutting edge, but not a necessarily big step.
Some companies can afford to test new systems.
We just don't do it that way. We keep in step with our competitors. But for some firms, being on the cutting edge is not only a corporate philosophy but also a solution to finding and keeping the best IT staffers in what is now an ultra-competitive labor market. It's what attracts people to our IT department. Even our clients want to see our it department.