How to turn an IT project into a business project with proven economic impact
15 June 2026
In this presentation, Dennis Saltykov, Business Architect and Head of Operational Efficiency Practice at a major IT consulting firm, explains how to stop justifying IT projects through system implementation alone and start speaking with business in the language of goals, effects, and measurable results.
The main idea of the article: businesses invest not in automation, but in improving their performance. Therefore, it's important for an IT director not just to select a system, but to prove what problem it solves, what impact it delivers, and why this particular path will lead to results.
This material will be useful for IT managers who need to defend IT initiatives to the business, formulate project goals, and link functional requirements to economic impact.
An IT project as a transaction between IT and business
Denis suggests viewing an IT project as a transaction. The business provides money, time, and resources, but diverts key specialists from operational work. In return, the IT team must deliver the desired business impact or create a tool that will achieve it.
With this approach, the role of the IT director changes. They become an internal sales manager: they must sell not the system, but the idea, the implementation method, and the future business impact.
Effect is not equal to automation
The key point of the presentation: automation in itself is not a business benefit. Benefits emerge when a company achieves a specific goal or solves a pressing problem.
Denis suggests asking two questions before any implementation. First: what effect do we want to achieve? Second: will the chosen system or digital tool actually achieve that effect?
This is especially important now, when businesses often expect quick results. In such a situation, phrases like "implement a system," "migrate to a modern platform," or "standardize processes" are ineffective without an answer to the question of what will change in the business.
