Crisis of confidence over Y2K time-bomb

Forrester says 'a generation of IT managers' will be wiped out.

Research completed exclusively for Computing at last week's IT Directors Forum revealed deep-seated fears over relations between business managers and the UK's most senior IT bosses.

Half of the delegates said chief executives and other business managers were 'probably not' sufficiently aware of how to get the best from their IT department. Over half admitted that IT 'occasionally lags behind' or has 'problems meeting requirements'. Just 10% said their IT strategy was working 'in complete harmony' with business.

The crisis of confidence is fuelling fears of a boardroom backlash over the millennium time-bomb. At a private seminar organised by the BCS Elite Group, one IT director told of his board's reaction to a year 2000 audit: 'It is considered unbelievable incompetence.'

One senior public sector IT director said: 'We won't come out smelling of roses. After the chaos of decentralisation in the 1980s, we are trying to recentralise. We may lose that argument now.'

'Business people see IT as suffering from a culture of greed,' said a high-ranking delegate. 'IT people keep asking for bags of money.'

Another admitted: 'The year 2000 problem is giving IT a hugely bad image in the company - spending all this money for no gain.'

IT directors' fears were underlined this week when research company Forrester predicted that 'a whole generation of IT managers could be wiped out' as chief executives finally recognise the scale of the problem. 'Many will be fired,' said Forrester founder George Colony.