The importance of a strong business‐IT relationship for the realisation of benefits in e‐business projects: the experiences of Egg

There is a pressing need for research into the successful application of technology within organisations, given the high incidence of failure, with respect to information systems projects, in general, and e‐commerce applications, in particular. A case study was conducted into system development approaches at Egg, one of the UK’s leading online banks. Presents a qualitative study in this important area of research which should be of interest both to information systems researchers and to all IT professionals with responsibility for, or involvement in, e‐business development projects. The key finding of the research is that, while the balance between IT and business input does change over the course of a project, its successful outcome is highly dependent on the evolution of a strong IT‐business relationship that endures for the duration of the project. Shows that the maintenance of this strong relationship is undoubtedly aided by having shared and high priority activities, such as benefits realisation, that also last for the duration of the project.