Board Members “Dumb” About IT

May 17, 2011 - PRLog -- (Alberta, Canada)—According to a recent survey of over 200 board members by the National Association of Corporate Directors, 27 percent are believed to lack sufficient knowledge of information technology.

Based on his years of experience as a professional IT consultant, David Papp, author of “IT Survival Guide: Conquering Information Technology in Your Organization,” is not shocked by this statistic. According to him, one of the largest weaknesses in business today is the lack of alignment between the boardroom and a company’s IT professionals.

“Executives need to stop seeing their company’s IT system as a financial drain,” Mr. Papp suggests. “Instead, they need to see it for what it is: one of their company’s most valuable assets. The successful corporations of tomorrow will be the ones that realize this simple fact.”

The same survey also revealed that nearly half of all board members were disappointed in their abilities to oversee their companies’ information technology performances. David believes at least five major reasons contribute to this problem, including:

* Lack of information due to limited access of IT professionals to the boardroom
* Lack of interest of some board members in information technology
* Intimidation when dealing with technical data in general
* Perception that IT systems are necessary evils offering no competitive advantage
* Failure of IT managers to express IT needs to corporate executives

“Board members must realize that the failure to align the company’s IT system with values, goals and missions results in a tremendous disadvantage compared to those companies that do,” David explains. “The companies of tomorrow won’t be ones that ignore their IT systems. They will be the ones that take advantage of their potential.”

About the author:
David Papp is an international IT consultant with over twenty years’ experience in IT systems. He is a popular keynote speaker on numerous IT topics. Mr. Papp has a computer engineering degree from the University of Alberta and holds multiple industry certifications.

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