Gartner Executive Program Survey of More Than 2,000 CIOs Shows Digital Technologies Are Top Priorities in 2013
Survey Highlights the Need for CIOs to Set Aside Old Rules and
Adopt New Tools
Enterprises realize on average only 43 percent of technology's business
potential, according to a global survey of CIOs by Gartner, Inc.'s
Executive Programs. That number has to grow for IT to remain relevant in
an increasingly digital world.
The worldwide survey was conducted in the fourth quarter in 2012 and
included 2,053 CIOs, representing more than $230 billion in CIO IT
budgets and covering 36 industries in 41 countries. The Gartner
Executive Programs report, "Hunting and Harvesting in a Digital World:
The 2013 CIO Agenda," represents the world's most comprehensive
examination of business priorities and CIO strategies.
Over the last 18 months, digital technologies — including mobile,
analytics, big data, social and cloud — have reached a tipping point
with business executives. Analysts said there is no choice but to
increase technology's potential in the enterprise, and this means
evolving IT's strategies, priorities and plans beyond tending to the
usual concerns as CIOs expect their 2013 IT budgets to be essentially
flat for the fifth straight year.
"Digital technologies provide a platform to achieve results, but only if
CIOs adopt new roles and behaviors to find digital value," said Mark
McDonald, group vice president and Gartner Fellow. "CIOs require a new
agenda that incorporates hunting for new digital innovations and
opportunities, and harvesting value from products, services and
operations.
"In a world of change, it is concerning that around half of CIOs
surveyed do not see IT's enterprise role changing over the next three
years," Mr. McDonald said. "IT needs new tools if it hopes to hunt for
technology-intensive innovation and harvest raised business performance
from transformed IT infrastructure, operations and applications. Without
change, CIOs and IT consign themselves to tending a garden of legacy
assets and responsibilities."
The survey showed that CIO IT budgets have been flat to negative ever
since the dot-com bust of 2002. For 2013, CIO IT budgets are projected
to be slightly down, with a weighted global average decline of 0.5
percent.
Digital technologies dominate CIO technology priorities for 2013. The
top 10 global technology priorities revealed by the survey reflect a
greater emphasis on externally oriented digital technologies, as opposed
to traditional IT/operationally oriented systems (see Table 1).
Table 1
Top 10 CIO Business and Technology Priorities in 2013
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Top 10 Business Priorities
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Ranking
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Top 10 Technology Priorities
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Ranking
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Increasing enterprise growth
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1
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Analytics and business intelligence
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1
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Delivering operational results
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2
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Mobile technologies
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2
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Reducing enterprise costs
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3
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Cloud computing (SaaS, IaaS, PaaS)
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3
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Attracting and retaining new customers
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4
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Collaboration technologies (workflow)
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4
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Improving IT applications and infrastructure
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5
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Legacy modernization
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5
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Creating new products and services (innovation)
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6
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IT management
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6
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Improving efficiency
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7
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CRM
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7
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Attracting and retaining the workforce
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8
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Virtualization
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8
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Implementing analytics and big data
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9
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Security
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9
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Expanding into new markets and geographies
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10
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ERP Applications
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10
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SaaS = software as a service; IaaS = infrastructure as a service; PaaS =
platform as a service
Source: Gartner Executive Programs (January
2013)
CIOs see these technologies as disrupting business fundamentally over
the next 10 years. When asked which digital technologies would be most
disruptive, 70 percent of CIOs cited mobile technologies, followed by
big data/analytics at 55 percent, social media at 54 percent and public
cloud at 51 percent. The disruptiveness of each of these technologies is
real, but CIOs see their greatest disruptive power coming in
combination, rather than in isolation.
"As CIOs continue to amplify the enterprise with digital technologies
while improving IT organizational structure, management and governance,
2013 promises to be a year of dual priorities," said Dave Aron, vice
president and Gartner Fellow. "Key CIO strategies identified in the
survey reflect the realities of these dual business priorities and
confirm the need to expand IT's ability to hunt for new opportunities
and harvest current business value. While CIOs recognize that IT's value
contribution comes from delivering business solutions, they also
recognize that the prioritization and delivery of specific results must
change."
As needs and opportunities evolve, more CIOs will find themselves
leading in areas outside of traditional IT. In addition to their tending
role, they are starting to assume responsibility for hunting for digital
opportunities and harvesting value. Sixty-seven percent of CIOs surveyed
have significant leadership responsibilities outside of IT, with only 33
percent having no other such responsibilities. This situation contrasts
sharply with 2008, when almost half of CIOs had no responsibilities
outside of IT. Almost a fifth of CIOs now act as their enterprise's
chief digital officer (CDO), leading digital commerce and channels.
Although this nascent role varies in scope and style, it normally
includes championing the digital vision for the business — that is,
ensuring that the business is evolving optimally in the new digital
context.
"IT cannot expect to secure additional funding without assuming new
responsibilities or producing new results," said Mr. Aron. "Reacting to
limited budgets by restructuring costs, outsourcing and doing more with
less made sense from 2002 to 2011, when the supply of innovative
technologies was scarce. Adapting to, and leading, in the digital world
requires doing things differently, yet in ways consistent with the
demands of digital technologies. CIOs need to make the case that
mainstream emerging mobile, big data, social and cloud technologies
justify revisiting IT budget and investment levels."
"CIOs knew that doing the right thing required tending to IT by
delivering cost-effective quality services. CIOs and IT leaders managed
cost, complexity and risk to enable business operations in a world of
managed stability," Mr. McDonald said. "However, the world outside IT
changed creating a quiet crisis for IT. Demands have increased in a
world grown dynamic and digital. The harder CIOs work tended to current
concerns, the less relevant IT became. CIOs know that the future rests
in not repeating the past but in extending IT by hunting and harvesting
in a digital world."
More-detailed analysis on the CIO agenda for 2013 will be presented in
two webinars. During these webinars, Mr. McDonald and Mr. Aron will
outline the results from the 2013 CIO agenda survey and the top business
and technology priorities for CIOs. The "Agenda 2013 — Implications for
High-Tech Providers" webinar will be hosted on February 5 at 11 a.m.
EST. To register for this complimentary webinar, please visit http://my.gartner.com/webinardetail/resId=2299616.
The webinar "New Priorities, Technologies and Leaders Shaping the Future
of IT" will be hosted by Gartner on February 21 at 10 a.m. EST. To
register for this webinar, please visit http://my.gartner.com/webinardetail/resId=2299617.
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