Bottom line not a priorty for CIOs
Only one per cent of chief information officers have IT strategies that focus on delivering bottom line business benefits, even though many claim creating value from technology is a major objective.
Link: Analysts at odds over 2003 IT spending
Providing and managing IT is still more of a priority for most CIOs than creating business value, even though most of them believe it is their job to do both, according to a survey of 100 UK CIOs by management consultancy Dominic Barrow.
It warns the ‘schizophrenic’ nature of the IT role is causing a conflict of interest, with demands for providing and managing technology overshadowing the value agenda.
Dominic Barrow director Chris Potts said: ‘Where delivery of business benefits is fundamental to the IT strategy, it really makes a difference, and companies are able to create maximum value from IT. IT strategy is not about delivering IT projects, it’s about maximising the value of IT.’
‘The best companies are those that realise you can’t measure the value of IT in isolation. People have tried lots of fancy formulae to measure the value of IT but you need to integrate IT spend into value-creating business plans. Those who get it right have a mindset of creating money from technology,’ Potts added.
Despite a turbulent IT market, three quarters of CIOs said that the landscape for IT investment had not changed irrevocably in the last 18 months.
And yet almost half of respondents cited cost and cost reduction as their two main concerns for the future. One in four listed customer care as a major priority, but despite the hype, only two per cent of CIOs said data security was a major concern.
The survey also found that a large majority of organisations – 88% – have conducted a comprehensive review of their sourcing strategy within the last 12 months, including 57% in the last quarter.