Corporate Boards Don’t Focus on IT As Much As They Should

Despite all the talk about IT/business alignment, a study from Deloitte Consulting finds that only 14 percent of corporate boards in all industries are actively involved in information technology even though board members say they believe IT plays a vital role. The survey of 450 directors of publicly traded companies found that IT strategy and implementation is "very important" to board members for compliance (69 percent), customer experience (66 percent) and risk management (57 percent).

The study also found that only 10 percent of corporate boards discuss technology at every board meeting and only 15 percent of board members report that the CIO/CTO interacts with the board at every meeting. Finally, although 22 percent of respondents blame various aspects of IT strategy for their companies' inability to achieve their goals, 52 percent say their board will be spending no more time on IT over the next three years than it does now.