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MIT CISR 2020 Research Projects

How Much Does It Really Cost?

Digital Value

Over the last two decades, spending on IT, and now digital, has risen significantly. There is a growing concern from investors, boards, top management teams, and IT leaders that we understand the costs of digital transformation and the benefits achieved. In short, how much is digital costing and is it paying off?

In this research, we begin to answer this question, starting with the fundamental query of ‘What does IT cost?’ We will use data from over 1000 companies to understand how much they are spending on digital for various transformation goals such as improving the customer experience, re-platforming, increasing operational efficiency, launching a new business model, improving the employee experience, etc. We will create IT portfolios for top performers categorized by industry and by transformation goal. The objective is to help companies begin assessing spending against best performers to see how they are doing. Are you spending too much, too little or about the same as top performers for each transformation goal?

The next step is to look at returns from these investments and the best practices for organizational change required to convert the spending into bottom-line impact. We will illustrate common spending patterns and best practices with case studies.

Seeking: Companies willing to share their digital/IT spending allocation by each major transformation goal we are studying with the potential to become a case study.

Contact: Stephanie Woerner

 

RESEARCHERS

Peter Weill, Chairman and Senior Research Scientist

Peter’s work centers on the role, value, and governance of digitization in enterprises and their ecosystems. Peter’s current responsibilities include the globalization of MIT CISR’s research and sponsorship base and engagement with senior executive teams.

Stephanie L. Woerner, Director and Principal Research Scientist

Stephanie’s work focuses on how enterprises use technology and data to create more effective business models and how they manage the associated organizational change. She has a passion for measuring hard-to-assess digital factors and linking them to firm performance.

Aman Shah, PhD Student

Aman supports MIT CISR's research and administrative staff, providing data-driven insights for the strategic operations of the center, and data and analytics support for the center's research projects.

Find Us
Center for Information Systems Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sloan School of Management
245 First Street, E94-15th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02142
617-253-2348