Using "IT as a percentage of sales" can be misleading. For example, if a company is highly integrated and sales go down due to externalities, IT may look inefficient and costly. If part of the company is spun off, IT may look more efficient while actual IT functioning remains the same. A company that uses a large supplier base, may have a small IT that looks efficient simply because some IT costs are hidden in the cost of purchased components. How accurate is the "IT as a percentage of sales" statistic, and should it have the prominence it has, as a benchmark?
|