Make up your mind! IT on the Board or not?

The IDC/Microsoft research, which feels so flawed, goes on to suggest that technology investment is a regular discussion topic across 60 per cent of the country's boardroom tables, with technology efficiency discussed across 55 per cent.

On the face of it, these findings are good news for anyone who believes information technology and business are indelibly linked and that companies can only be successful if IT leaders are given board level positions and board level responsibilities.

silicon.com is among this group, having launched our 'IT on Board' campaign over two years ago.

Unfortunately our enthusiasm for this particular headline-grabber is undermined by... well, another piece of research. Yesterday we reported, under the banner 'IT chiefs locked out of takeover talks', how 50 per cent of mergers and acquisitions are carried out without consulting the IT department. Not a single 'will our systems work with theirs?' or a 'who's got the better technology?'

Given one in five mergers are abandoned or delayed when IT is consulted, this seems a particularly naive thing to do. Or not do.

Curiously both pieces of research were commissioned by Microsoft (did anyone bother to cross-reference the results?).

Of course, chief executives may honestly believe it when they tell market researchers and fellow board members that IT is mission-critical. But by ignoring this fundamental piece of due diligence during mergers and takeovers their inactions tell a very different story.