CIO Strategic Marketing Services / IDG Research Services survey
sponsored by Red Hat shows challenges remain before vision of IT /
business integration can be fully realized
RALEIGH, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
CIOs and other IT executives have made significant progress in their
long-standing efforts to tightly align and coordinate their IT
departments with their organizations' business units. Despite this
progress, according to the results of the "CIOs at a Technology and
Cultural Crossroads" survey announced today by Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE:
RHT), the world's leading provider of open source solutions, obstacles
remain before the vision of true IT and business integration can be
fully realized.
The survey, commissioned by Red Hat through CIO Strategic Marketing
Services /IDG Research Services polled 100 respondents at the IT
director level and above at organizations with 1,000 or more employees
about the current and future roles of CIOs. The survey results provide
insight into the progress CIOs and other IT executives have made in
assuming more strategic roles as well as into the challenges they
continue to face but also raises fundamental questions about how CIOs
can best drive business innovation within their companies and even
suggests that getting the business and IT together may take something as
fundamental as rethinking the CIO position itself.
Currently, many CIOs and other IT executives spend much of their time
"keeping the lights on," with 48 and 47 percent of respondents of
selecting "improving IT operations / system performance," and
"implementing new systems and architectures" as one of their top five
areas of focus, respectively. Despite these day-to-day demands, many IT
executives surveyed also manage to engage in a variety of business
activities, including 45 percent of survey respondents who note that
they currently spend time aligning IT initiatives with business goals.
In the coming years, IT executives want to spend more time contributing
to business strategy, according to survey results. When asked where they
would like to spend more time in the next three to five years, survey
respondents indicated that they would like to identify opportunities for
competitive differentiation (48 percent); cultivate the IT / business
partnership (42 percent); drive business innovation (41 percent); align
IT initiatives with business goals (35 percent); and develop and refine
business strategy (32 percent).
Given the chance, the surveyed IT executives believe they could be
valuable contributors to business strategies. Among the respondents, 78
percent rated their knowledge of the business as either "excellent" or
"good" and 66 percent said their receptiveness to new ideas coming from
business units was "excellent" or "good." Even given the opportunity to
innovate, many felt stymied by factors outside their control. When asked
if they had the budget to support and enable new business ideas, 57
percent said their available budget was only "fair" or "poor," and 62
percent said the same about their staffing levels.
Other challenges remain before IT will be viewed as a contributor to
business strategy. When surveyed IT executives were asked to describe
how their companies' business stakeholders viewed the IT organization,
only 10 percent said they were perceived to be "business peers" engaged
in developing, not just enabling, business strategy. Even fewer of the
business stakeholders (4 percent) were thought to perceive IT as a
"business game changer" that serves as the primary driver of the
enterprise's competitive future. Meanwhile, the IT respondents said that
nearly 30 percent of business stakeholders still consider the IT
department to be merely a "cost center," and the survey showed that new
IT projects are more frequently initiated by business champions
approaching IT (77 percent) than by IT approaching business (68
percent). According to the survey, IT and business representatives only
collaborate to jointly identify new projects and opportunities for
innovation 16 percent of the time.
"IT is a source of key business innovation, and it is the
responsibility of IT executives to communicate the strategic value of
that innovation," said Lee Congdon, CIO, Red Hat. "The survey results
clearly show the need for IT executives to have a broad understanding of
their organization, and to increase the collaboration between IT and
business leaders. It is through this collaborative innovation that not
only perceptions will change, but also business results will be driven."
See the results of the "CIOs at a Technology and Cultural Crossroads"
survey and view an infographic on the survey results at http://enterprisersproject.com/cio-report.
Methodology and Demographics
CIO Strategic Marketing Services /IDG Research Services conducted an
online survey on behalf of Red Hat to better understand the current and
future role of the CIO. The survey polled 100 individuals in IT director
or above positions in organizations with 1,000 or more employees.
Connect with Red Hat
About Red Hat, Inc.
Red Hat is the world's leading provider of open source software
solutions, using a community-powered approach to reliable and
high-performing cloud, Linux, middleware, storage and virtualization
technologies. Red Hat also offers award-winning support, training, and
consulting services. As the connective hub in a global network of
enterprises, partners, and open source communities, Red Hat helps create
relevant, innovative technologies that liberate resources for growth and
prepare customers for the future of IT. Learn more at http://www.redhat.com.
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Red Hat, Inc.
Stephanie Wonderlick, 571-421-8169
swonderl@redhat.com
Source: Red Hat, Inc.
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