This piece originally published in the The Jakarta Post.

Every company’s technology situation has unique aspects, yet most companies share a common trait: No matter how much they spend on technology, executives are often disappointed with the results.

This creates a tension similar to how Leo Tolstoy described families: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” And with technology spending expected to grow at 3.1 percent annually over the next five years, IT leaders feel intense pressure to deliver better results.

This is particularly true at companies embarking on broad digital transformations and searching for effective and efficient ways to self-fund the expansion of their digital capabilities.

How companies achieve cost savings and long-term sustainability depends on their starting point. We find that most IT organizations fall into one of three types: neglected, indebted or gold-plated.

Read the full article in The Jakarta Post

Will Poindexter is a partner with Bain & Company in Chicago and member of the firm’s Global IT practice. Usman Akhtar is a partner in Bain’s Jakarta office.