Challenges to investing in IT, as reported by organizations surveyed |
| Ranked by frequency of mention |
| Rank* | Challenge |
| 1 | Insufficiency of current levels of investment to achieve desired results |
| 2 | Failure of organization to prioritize IT |
| 3 | Lack of alignment between IT department and organization needs and strategy |
| 4 | Focus on technical challenges rather than business challenges |
| 5 | Insufficient investment in skilled presonnel |
* Based on 383 responses from our global multi-sector survey. Rank order may not reflect statistically significant differences in all cases. Unclassified/refused responses not shown. |
Investing in IT
Factors enabling investing in IT, as reported by organizations surveyed |
| Ranked by frequency of mention |
| Rank* | Enabling factor |
| 1 | Prioritization by senior management |
| 2 | Recognition of IT's role in enabling innovation |
| 3 | Recognition of IT's role in enhancing business informationsystems |
| 4 | Recognition of IT's role in enhancing risk management |
| * Based on 383 responses from our global multi-sector survey. Rank order may not reflect statistically significant differences in all cases. Unclassified/refused responses not shown. |
Two obstacles to taking advantage of this opportunity included: insufficient investment and a failure to make IT investment a priority.
Summary: Across Europe and the US, investing in IT is ranked as a number one or two priority. In China, Russia and India, however, IT ranks farther down the list.
Investing in IT can produce a range of strategic and operational benefits, according to the executives we interviewed — from enabling new distribution channels to accelerating innovation.
While seen as third-highest opportunity on the ladder for 2011, on average, executives saw the opportunity as lessening in potential impact by 2013. That said, a relatively high proportion of respondents indicated that measures to make use of this opportunity were needed but not yet implemented, giving it a prime position on our heat map.
Opportunity outlook and impact
Looking across sectors and regions, most expect the potential impact of this opportunity to decline as 2013 approaches. The exception is the retail sector, where the importance is expected to rise. This may reflect the on-going growth in e-commerce.
Geographic view
- Across Europe, America and the Middle East, investing in IT is typically either the top or second-highest priority for executives.
- In China, Russia and India, IT opportunities are ranked behind a mixture of other strategic initiatives.
Sector perspective
- This opportunity is a top priority for the health care and public administration.
Obstacles to success
The most frequently reported obstacles to taking advantage of this opportunity included:
- Insufficient investment
- Failure by senior management to prioritize this opportunity
Despite the importance of IT for health care and public administration, we found that these two sectors were the most likely to complain that current levels of IT investment were insufficient.
Also the public administration and retail sectors were particularly likely to complain of poor alignment between the IT department and overall business need and strategy.
In comparisons between nations, respondents from the US and China were particularly to be satisfied with their organization's efforts to take advantage of the opportunities produced by IT investment, while executives in Australia and the Netherlands were particularly likely to report they had faced challenges.
Responding to the opportunity
Our survey revealed that success in developing IT investment opportunities is strongly dependent on the attitudes of senior management. The well-positioned organizations are those whose leaders recognize the potential of IT in driving innovation, enhancing business information systems and managing risk.
Overall, a majority of respondents (56%) indicated that their organization had been successful in giving IT a key role in supporting organizational objectives.
Sector strategies
- At 70%, oil and gas respondents were most likely to report success.
- At 47%, public sector officials were least likely to report success, an issue that may reflect current constraints on funding.
Geographic approaches
- The US emerged, by some margin, as the nation whose executives were most active in developing IT opportunities.
- Executives in the Netherlands were likely (67%) to report that measures to focus on this opportunity are needed, but have not yet been taken.
Organizations' responses to investing in IT
Percentage reporting additional IT investment is needed, by sector
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