Gartner CEO and Senior Business Executive Survey Shows 52 Percent of CEOs Have a Digital Strategy
Analysts to Discuss the Survey Findings at the Gartner CIO & IT
Executive Summit 2013, June 17-18, Frankfurt, Germany Gartner Complimentary Webinar on May 7 to Examine the Survey
Findings and the Implications This Will Have on IT
2013 will be a turning point year as CEOs and senior executives, by a
ratio of more than four to one, plan to increase IT investment in 2013,
rather than cut it, according to a recent survey by Gartner, Inc. The
2013 Gartner CEO and Senior Executive Survey found that, as macro
uncertainties abate, 78 percent of CEOs now feel able to plan their 2013
and 2014 investments and growth.
The Gartner CEO and Senior Executive Survey of more than 390 senior
business leaders in user organizations worldwide was conducted between
October and December 2012. Qualified organizations were those with
annual revenue of $250 million or more. The survey results show that
while major political and economic uncertainties obstructed business
investment last year, the fog is now clearing, and digital will play a
prominent role in CEOs' 2013 plans.
"This is the year when business leadership teams must commit
to investing bravely and deeply to redevelop the technology and
information capability of their firms," said Mark Raskino, vice
president and Gartner fellow. "After more than a decade of modest
investment and sorting out the basics, it's time to think ahead.
Business leaders tell us they recognize the need to invest in
e-commerce, mobile, cloud, social and other major technology categories,
and the capabilities they enable. That can't be done from within
existing IT budgets alone."
Gartner's CEO and senior executive survey showed that many business
leaders think they have a digital strategy, as 52 percent of survey
respondents said that they have a digital strategy.
"CEOs and leadership teams must crystallize what they mean by digital
strategy and work with a small subgroup from the executive team to
define what 'digital' means and how it manifests in the broader business
strategy," said Jorge Lopez, vice president and distinguished analyst at
Gartner. "They must ensure all elements of the digital strategy link
clearly to the core business strategy, and that they do not form an
independent, possibly distracting, program of change."
Business leaders intend to change the mix of leadership talent needed to
make that change — with chief data officers, chief digital officers and
new heads of innovation on the way. The survey found that 19 percent of
business leaders expect to see a chief digital officer by 2014, and 17
percent expect to see a chief data officer.
"CIOs should embrace growing digital, data and innovation needs, and not
stand back from them," said Mr. Lopez. "CIOs who intend to stay with
their firms for longer than two years should be developing digital
business, business information governance and innovation leadership
capabilities in themselves and in their teams. CIOs who intend to retire
or step back into other roles should help their organizations by
incubating next-generation talent in the areas of digital media,
information exploitation, and digitally enabled product and service
innovation. This can be done inside as well as outside the IT
department."
"A number of organizations are already making new, very big bets in
information and technology innovation that run to hundreds of millions
of dollars of fresh investment," Mr. Raskino continued. "The greater
risk now is assuming that your lackluster technology capability can
remain a 'back burner' issue for another couple of years."
More detailed analysis is available in the report "CEO and Senior
Executive Survey 2013: As Uncertainty Recedes, the Digital Future
Emerges." The report is available on Gartner's website at http://www.gartner.com/resId=2387715.
Gartner will examine the business trends and implications for IT during
the complimentary webinar, "Chief Executive Concerns and the IT
Implications" on May 7 at 9 a.m. EDT and noon EDT. To register for the
webinar, please visit http://my.gartner.com/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=202&mode=2&PageID=5553&resId=2392415&ref=Webinar-Calendar.
About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology
research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related
insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every
day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government
agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and
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research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of
their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in
Stamford, Connecticut, USA, and has 5,500 associates, including 1,400
research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries. For more
information, visit www.gartner.com.