I/T Risk

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/20/it_risk/

"IT systems have become so integral to businesses that their failure can have disastrous consequences for an organization, according to analysts Gartner.

"The run on UK bank Northern Rock, resulting from saver fears after the firm went to the Bank of England for finance after loans on the money markets became unobtainable, is an example of business risk. Historically, banks faced the majority of their business risks for money market issues and the like. But as IT becomes more important, between five and 10 of the total of 50 to 60 "show stopper" risks faced by a business involve information technology systems, according to Gartner group vice-president Richard Hunter."

I couldn't agree more. Business management has no way to measure nor manage the quality of their I/T infrastructure. And more of the I/T infrastructure we encounter - in all lines of industry - is extremely poor. Technology companies, even companies that create a software
product, are not immune to this. In fact, they may be among the worst cases.

The above article goes on to include:

""IT risk is too important to be left to IT departments," said Hunter, who has written a book on the subject, entitled IT Risk: Turning Business Threats into Competitive Advantage, which was launched at the Gartner IT security summit earlier this week."

Again, it's the I/T functionaries themselves that are most to blame. Most I/T workers do not know what they're doing. And their management within the I/T operations, are complete unaware. Who in the world can we expect executive management, at any organization, to make things work smoothly under these conditions? We can't. From government, to finance, to our personal lives, incompetence in I/T is a massive liability.