1. How does your board assess (measure) the real contribution made by any of your IT systems to improving the organization’s competitiveness?

2. What divergence is there between the views that your sales/operational management has of the benefits of IT systems and projects and those of the IT management? Who is right and how do you find out? Are you getting maximum value (maximum business benefit for minimum actual total cost) for each of your IT investments? How would you know? How would you know if your IT spending is putting your company at a cost disadvantage?

3. What is your board’s process for comparing the (fully costed) ROI on your technology projects to those of any other strategic options, including acquisitions, and how does this affect strategic planning?

4. What is your board’s view on the relationship, in your organization, between the potential impact of a compliance or information security failure (in financial terms) and the (fully absorbed) cost of meeting the compliance and security objectives? What is the total actual (direct and indirect) cost of all the compliance and information security incidents in your organization in the last twelve months?

5. What is the real, financial value to your organization of its information and intellectual capital and how are you leveraging it?

6. How are you driving up the intellectual capital/headcount ratio? What’s the relationship between this ratio and the IT intensity (IT investment to headcount) ratio?

7. Do all your IT projects come in on time, to budget and to specification?

8. How does your D&O insurance deal with the personal consequences for directors of IT failures arising from inadequate board oversight of core business processes and significant financial transactions?