Businesses fear IT collapse more than terrorism

More complex IT systems increase IT risk substantially, says report

A new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit, sponsored by German software company SAP, has revealed that businesses fear the collapse of their IT systems more than they do terrorism, natural disasters, financial risk or regulatory constraints. That said, the report points out that many of them are still failing to manage IT risk effectively. Only 13% of the 145 senior executives surveyed revealed that they had a comprehensive IT risk-management structure in place, and even though they believe senior management is aware of the financial risks associated with IT failure, only 11% described their company’s handling of IT risk as highly effective.Nevertheless, 27% said that IT systems failure was the greatest business risk facing their company, with security breaches coming a close second with 22%. With businesses employing ever more complex and powerful IT systems, the potential for a system failure is increasing, as problems can occur in any part of the vast network connecting the entire business group. Poor project management was cited by 43% of executives as the most common source of IT project failure.