The online survey was in the field from October 4 to October 14, 2011, and generated responses from 927 executives. Of these respondents, 488 have a technology focus, and the other 439 represent other functional specialties. The respondents represent the full range of industries, regions, company sizes, and tenures.
Aspirations and current expectations for IT have never been higher. Executives continue to set exacting demands for IT support of business processes, and they see an even larger role for IT in a competitive environment increasingly shaken up by technology disruptions. (...) Looking ahead, executives expect IT to create new platforms to support innovation and growth, help guide strategy with data and advanced analytics, and stay on top of possible new roles for mobile devices. For IT leaders, the good news is that along with these higher expectations, most respondents also see a greater willingness to spend more on IT.
Meeting expectation
Among respondents to this survey, the highest current priorities for IT mirror those of previous surveys: improving the effectiveness and efficiency of business processes and reducing IT cost. (...)
Higher budgets, changing priorities
Perhaps due to a combination of rising faith in IT, the realization of competitive challenges ahead, and a more positive business outlook, more respondents expect their organizations to increase spending in 2012. (...)
More data to support decisions
Executives say their companies still rely upon a mix of data and experience in decision making, although they are increasingly looking to analytics tools for support.
New platforms on the move
Both IT and non-IT executives say their organizations are beginning to take advantage of new platforms to further innovation: data and analytics, social Internet technologies (those known as Web 2.0), social media platforms (such as Facebook and Twitter), embedded computing, and cloud computing (Exhibit 4). Such platforms can be used to meet a variety of goals, including better customer and partner engagement and the creation of new products and services. While most respondents indicate that these platforms have yet to be deployed at scale, significant shares say their companies are using them in selected areas or piloting them. (...)
Mobile technologies—for example, smartphones, tablets, and sensors—are growing in importance, according to respondents. They say their companies are using mobile technologies and applications both internally as collaboration and efficiency tools and externally to create stronger links with customers and business partners. Respondents in Europe are slightly ahead of the curve in mobile-technology deployment at scale. The region where these mobile technologies are most often deployed selectively in pockets across the enterprise is developed Asia: respondents there lead the rest of the world by anywhere from 10 to 20 percentage points in selective use of mobile for customer and business partner engagement.
IT in the boardroom
As technology becomes a more important factor in reshaping industries, survey respondents say their organizations’ boards of directors should play a more active role in deciding how technology is incorporated into overall strategy. Respondents say that the most important technology-related discussions at their board meetings revolve around approval or review of very large IT projects; but ideally, they say, discussions should address forward-looking assessments of technology trends.
Looking ahead
Many executives indicate their companies are struggling with the substantial technical challenges of increasing their use of data and analytics. In our experience, some of the toughest challenges are creating a “single source” of truth, consolidating data architectures, and developing analytic tools and skills. But critical as these challenges are, successful rollouts often require a softer element—attention to the cultural changes to encourage increased reliance on data for decision making as well as the training required to help leaders at all levels incorporate analytics into regular practice.
According to respondents, business executives continue to ask IT to create more value by enabling business processes with technology, which is driving a significant amount of increased investment. In our experience, success in these efforts requires creating solid, welldefined business cases that include clear stage gates and metrics for holding business and IT leaders accountable.
New technology platforms and capabilities are clearly creating new opportunities at many different levels within organizations. We often see business executives experimenting with these platforms outside of IT’s awareness or permission. Given the proliferation and potential importance of these platforms, IT executives must shift from being gatekeepers to being enablers and service managers—guiding, supporting, and assisting their colleagues in these experiments to ensure that corporate policies, data security, or risk guidelines are not endangered.
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