4. ADOPT NEW TECHNOLOGIES Companies don't necessarily need an elaborate system for evaluating new technologies. The problem comes when they have no process at all. "I'm working with an insurance carrier in the $10 billion range that does not have a regular defined process for gathering business requirements," such as the design of a system or the number of users it will ultimately have to support, says consultant Chris Curran at Diamond Management and Technology Consultants. "It doesn't have to be fancy," he adds. "But you do need a standard process," whatever the company's size.

Dismayed by the babble of systems that resulted from his company's ad-hoc procurement approach, Churchill Downs CIO Rollins established a two-step process and a project management office to oversee it. In the first step, managers seeking new technology create a one-page document that explains the business benefit—usually a productivity gain, revenue increase or cost savings. The projects that pass muster get evaluated by a management committee, which assigns a priority to projects it approves.

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