Sometimes it's OK to rely on qualitative arguments for IT spending, especially when your internal business partners are backing you up. But you must measure the financial impact of that technology after it's deployed. Just because the returns are murky at the start of a project doesn't let you and your partners off the hook permanently.
Of course, your company's receptiveness to IT proposals depends on other variables besides your business savvy, such as the rate at which the company is growing, the technical vision of its management, even the industry it's in. A Chapter 11-saddled steel manufacturer, for instance, is likely to hold its IT organization's feet closer to the financial fire than a hyper-growth bio-technology company would. Your job is to maximize IT's potential at your company given those other variables. As former Chrysler Chairman Lee Iacocca used to say, "Lead, follow or get out of the way."
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