Managerial IT Unconsciousness

Abstract

Three case studies are presented to show that senior management sometimes lack awareness of the importance of Information Technology and its governance on the success of large IT projects. The first case was related to Sydney Water, a public utility company that invested AU$61 million in a customer relationship management and billing system. The auditors found that contract administration was deficient in the company, which led to the debacle. The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT)'s PeopleSoft enterprise resource planning (ERP) system was a failure because of incomprehensive governance management. The software was complex and needed tight governance or the overall system to be implemented successfully. The failure of the billing system of One.Tel is the third case study, where the system was unable to cope with new services and legislations and sent out inaccurate and late bills. Show more