1st April is a matter of days away and budgets are top of the agenda for most UK businesses, but what does this mean for IT? Will it be another year of forgoing software upgrades and simply having to make do with outdated software, or will investments in data management and cloud services make fire-fighting an easier task, freeing more time for projects to help take your business forwards?
In a recent survey by Calyx, it reported that CIO’s are no longer playing a major part in shaping business strategy. Over 200 CIO’s and IT Managers were surveyed and when asked what they felt their most important responsibility was –
- 33% saw it as driving growth through technology
- 16% actually spent their working day driving the development of business through IT
- 11% said that they mainly focused on developing strategic concepts around IT to move their organisation forward
- 46% reported that their everyday tasks mainly involve fire-fighting to keep systems up and running and this was despite…
- 64% of those surveyed sitting on the Board of Directors.
Even the most talented and well-paid IT professionals can’t help a business grow if they are preoccupied with daily fire-fighting. But it seems that this isn’t the biggest frustration. So whilst almost half of CIO’s and IT Managers are submerged in BAU processes;
- 60% are frustrated at having to deal with data management issues
- 44% are consistently having to deal with security issues
- 33% are tired of fulfilling “board-driven demands for cost-efficiencies and cost cutting.
But it’s not all bad news. Whilst this may be the reality of a vast majority of IT leaders and lower budgets have meant difficult conditions for IT, a recent survey by TechTarget revealed that –
- 59% reported a budget increase was seen in 2013
- 65% are expecting a budget increase in 2014
- 37% plan to expand IT to support business growth
- 59% plan to purchase new or upgrade existing software
- 52% plan to purchase new hardware to expand computing capacity and increase energy efficiency
- 35% expect to pay more on maintenance in 2014, mainly focusing on those maintenance issues that were ignored in the leaner years
- 38% plan to grow spending in private and public cloud services
- 20% plan to increase the use of automation in the business which will free IT to focus on more strategic areas
- 31% may add IT staff in 2014 to meet the overall goals of business growth and targeted IT projects.
Whilst none of these things alone will negate the need for fire-fighting, it will make BAU much easier, making the IT Department a happier, more productive environment.
But, what if you work in a business that is yet to see the benefits of a more stable economic landscape. There are still a few companies keeping a tight hold on the purse strings –
- 13% of CIO’s/IT Managers are faced with the prospect of maintaining current service levels with flat budgets
- 7% have been told that they must reduce IT spending
- 61% of those faced with lower budgets will curtail hardware spending
- 37% will cut back on maintenance
With the IT Managers rarely being perceived as the hub for organisational innovation and growth, we are beginning to get there and 2014 looks set to be the year that the IT Department strikes back. With new technologies saturating the market that will significantly impact the IT function over the next few years, now is the perfect time to make sure you are well-positioned to drive the success of the business as a whole. Time to step up to the plate and get the “keep the lights on” issues streamlined and focus on efficient IT management, as this is set to be the key challenge over the next 12 months to ensure your business is able to approach things in a more strategic fashion, to be able to realise the benefits of these next-generation technologies sooner, resulting in claiming the competitive advantage.
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Written by Lucy Rawes, Operations Director
