See, you're thinking about it backward. Don't start with the cost. Begin by considering something that always tops the list of what we're supposed to be doing: aligning IT with the business.

How do you achieve that? It's not enough to do ROI calculations and get business sponsors for every IT project. No, the way you line up IT with the business is by making sure your IT people are lined up with the business.

They have to see what the business does in order to make sure the systems they produce and run really meet business needs. And to do that, they've got to watch users solving business problems, listen to salespeople dealing with customers and understand how the products move and where the money comes from.

If you can show them that -- find ways to get them connected to the business, committed to the business -- they'll no longer think of themselves as just being in IT. They'll be in insurance or banking, retail or manufacturing, pharma or transportation, or whatever industry your company is in.

That's when they stop struggling against the incomprehensible demands of those @#$%! business-side people and start meeting and even anticipating those business needs.