The use of IT jargon is undermining attempts by IT staff to work closer with other departments because many senior executives fail to understand the terminology, according to a recent survey of 300 senior managers in the UK

The research, published this week by IT and network service firm ATC, found 42 percent of respondents thought IT staff used the most jargon. In contrast, just 20 percent voted for sales executives and 16 percent for lawyers as the most linguistically impenetrable part of the business.

Furthermore, 41 percent of respondents admitted to "switching off" when confronted by jargon users, and almost a third pleaded guilty to pretending to understand unfamiliar jargon because they were embarrassed to admit they did not know what was being discussed.

To illustrate the point ATC asked interviewees what "asking your SI to handle your VoIP" meant and found that while 21 percent knew it meant "asking your systems integrator to handle your voice over Internet Protocol system" over half said they did not know and one in 10 thought it meant "asking a safety inspector to conduct a Visual Office Inspection Procedure".

Campbell Williams, strategy director at ATC, said the use of jargon makes it harder for IT directors to secure budget for investment in new technologies. He argued this was particularly true of mid-market firms with smaller IT budgets, but also affected larger companies where communication between IT and business leaders could be undermined.

"The average managing director doesn’t want to feel stupid so if you are using jargon they don’t understand they will either ignore it or ask for an explanation, which they will resent having to do," Williams said. "IT directors and vendors need to be aware of this and try to talk more about the business benefits [of new technology]."

Paul Arthur, director of solutions management at BMC - which has tried to reposition itself as a provider of business service management rather than IT management solutions - said the research underlined the size of the " communication gap" between IT and business executives.

"Service-oriented architectures [SOAs] are a prime example," he said. "It could be one of the most important IT developments for the rest of the business that there has been in years – but business people simply don’t understand it."

Arthur added that this lack of understanding meant business managers often think the IT department simply wants "new toys to play with" and so refuses to authorise investments that could have significant competitive benefits.

Arthur argued IT chiefs should try to spend more time working alongside business leaders in order to develop a better understanding of business goals and terms. "We need IT leaders to not just understand technology but how it will be used by the business," he said. "And to do that you have to spend time working with the business leaders."

Meanwhile, ATC said it will launch a new campaign later this autumn to champion the use of plain English in the IT sector.

However, Neil MacGowan of IT governance software specialist Mercury, said this approach is unlikely to succeed given that every department within a business uses its own jargon – much of which is necessary.

"The problems occur where the IT department has to interact with other areas of the business," MacGowan said. "The best solution is to have people who can translate between the two realms [working in the IT department]." He added that this could be achieved by appointing more managers with business experience to the IT department.