IT projects: evaluation, outcomes and impediments

Aims to identify the motivational factors for investing in information technology (IT), the impediments to IT investments and the outcomes of the planning and implementation of IT projects by chartered accountants in Australia. The results indicate that firms are motivated to invest in IT primarily for five reasons. IT investments face a number of challenges, the most prominent being the need to keep up with technology, which is likely to worsen as the technology cycles continue to shorten. Identifies resource procurement, lack of appropriate development tools, lack of proper planning or project management and user resistance to change as the four main problems encountered in implementation of IT projects. Many IT projects were undertaken for the purpose of improving efficiency within the organisation and reducing costs, rather than more strategic usage such as providing a flexible IT infrastructure or aligning IT with corporate strategy. The results suggest that firms have largely only utilised IT in their internal operations, rather than for strategic reasons.