When Holstein joined NPR just under two years ago, the IT department was overextended — pulled by user demands in too many different directions. As the demand for new applications increases even more, Holstein's been cautious not to promise anything he thinks is beyond his IT department's capabilities and resources, lest he create the perception that the project backlog is getting bigger. Meanwhile, his approach, like Powers' and Kudla's, is to align project requests with NPR's strategy. The perception he wants to create among end users is that the IT department is a partner with every part of the organization — from the newsroom to the mailroom. "Then we can develop the right technology strategy for them: one that complements and supports NPR's overall mission and strategic plan," Holstein says. And then, he adds, "we must deliver on the explicit promises that are part and parcel of that strategy".

The Problem with Users

An additional factor complicating CIOs' effectiveness at managing the project backlog is the sophistication of end users. Today's line-of-business managers and their employees are more adept with technology than the employees who held those same positions 10 years ago. "The younger people have grown up with [technology], have been exposed to it, understand the value," says Rood. As a result, they don't hesitate to recommend a new ERP or sales-force automation system or suggest changes to an existing system.

At Worldspan, Powers encourages this kind of behaviour. "We let everybody submit projects," she says. For example, salespeople working in Romania came to Powers with a business justification for a new sales application. Worldspan provides airline reservation information to travel agencies, and it offers a service that allows customers to price tickets based on negotiated corporate or group airline rates. The idea from Romania, Powers says, was to help travel agencies that have personnel in different countries by allowing agents to enter rates in different currencies, rather than restricting the agents to the currency of the country where they are located.

"[Businesspeople] know what our customers need and have good ideas," Powers says. But as she has made her department receptive to any and all ideas, she estimates that project requests have increased 20 percent.

Kudla of The Queen's Medical Centre expects that once he upgrades the hospital's seven major systems, new demand will surface. "Once the system is stabilized and users realize the potential of the new system, I anticipate a demand for new functionality," he says. Kudla anticipates requests for, among other things, automating the capture of data from patient monitors and expansion of wireless access on the hospital campus.

In other words, the application backlog isn't a problem one solves, it's a condition one lives with as technology matures and expands into new areas of the business, enabling growth and greater efficiency. NPR's Holstein says that, in the end, having a backlog poses a risk to the IT department, and that risk becomes a reality if you're missing project milestones or going over budget, and these developments come as a surprise. They shouldn't, he says, "if you are properly monitoring these variables on a routine basis".

"Of course working harder and more funding help," concludes Worldspan's Powers. But it's not manpower or money that solve the backlog problem, she adds. One needs effective governance.