2012 US IT Priorities

8/2/2019 2012 US IT Priorities

1/44Copyright 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved

The Strategies, Challenges and Implementation Priorities of

US IT Leaders and Professionals

IT Priorities 2012 United States

Version: 1.1, 10 March 2012

Authors: Angus Macaskill, Rob ONeill

Survey programming and management: Kita Dittavong,

Erin Magers, Curtis Bendt


2/44Copyright 2012 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved.

2IT PRIORITIES 2012 UNITED STATES

Contents

04Editors Note

05 Executive Summary

10 About This Report10 Report Release Schedule

10 About IT Priorities

10 About ZDNet and CBS Interactive

11 IT BudgetsWinners and Losers11 Changes Compared to 2010

12 Budget Changes; US v. APAC

13 Budgets by Organization Size

13 Budgets by Industry Sector

15 IT Priorities15 Priorities for All Respondents

16 The Different Priorities of Budget Winners and Losers

17 Addressing Key IT Priorities Segment Size

18 Addressing Key IT Priorities Key Verticals

19IT Improvements

20 IT Improvements Budget Winners Just Do It

21 IT Improvements By Organization Size

22 IT Improvements By Key Verticals




Contents

24IT Challenges

28 Vendors and Partner Selection Criteria29 Vendors And Partner Selection Criteria

By Organization Size

30 Vendors And Partner Selection Criteria By Key Verticals

32 Impact of Economic Conditions33 Impact of Economic Conditions By Organization Size

33 Impact of Economic Conditions By Key Verticals

34 Technology Deployment Trends34 Introduction

34 The Hot Technologies for 2012

Across All Technology Categories

35 Software and Applications

36 Networking and Security

37 Server, Storage and Datacenter

39 Communications

40 Hardware

41 Services

42 Survey Methodology42 Introduction

43 Respondent Demographics

25 IT Challenges By Organization Size

26 IT Challenges By Key Verticals




Dear Readers:

In this inaugural version of ZDNets U.S. IT Priorities report there are many common threads that addup to an enterprise tipping point. Technology budgets are at to up a bit, but respondents would

love to ditch their legacy gear and start fresh.

The challenge for technology executives is clear: How do your lower costs to carve our the dollars

needed to be a corporate hero? And to be that corporate hero technology execs have to be aligned

with business priorities. If not, its safe to say that business units will ultimately control the technology

budget. In fact, that movement is already happening.

In the pages that follow youll nd a series of data nuggets on IT buying priorities as well as a few

items that may surprise you. Here are a few nuggets that stuck out for me and my take on what they

mean.

Mobility and Web apps are a high priority for many IT buyers. My take: Mobility is the most obvious

way for enterprise technology to remain relevant. Want to be a superstar? Get me all the corporate

data I need in a nice wrapper on my iPad in the eld. As for Web apps, tech execs want to shed

existing on-premise software for lighter weight cloud offerings.

Size matters much less today than in recent years. My take: Big companies have the most legacy

technology to shed. As a result, smaller companies can be more transformational with cloud efforts.

Its no wonder that midsized companies had the most budget winners in our survey. Midsized

companies are in a sweet spot. Theyre large enough to do damage to the big boys yet dont have

the bloat.

Tech spending is more fun in China and India. My take: In the U.S. a tech budget thats at to

up a smidge is the norm. That reality is ipped in China and India where a tech spending boom

is underway. This spending boom will matter to U.S. technology executives given that many

companies are truly global.

Data mining and business intelligence are on the radar. My take: Respondents to our survey

remained focused on cutting costs, but data mining is becoming a larger priority. Seventy percent

of respondents said that analytics was a priority. Tech execs better say that because the business

leadership is analytics happy.

Security is a big worry. My take: Given all the upheaval tech execs have to navigate with

consumerization and multiple devices it only makes sense that securing corporate data is scary.

IT buyers are all about price. My take: Vendor margins are going to get squeezed in any category

with more than two players. Customers want a deal and they want quality. This reality is totally

warranted. With a at budget, money to transform has to come from somewhere. That somewhere

is often a vendors backside.

-Lawrence Dignan, Editor-in-chief, ZDNet

EditorsNote




The challenges aced by IT proessionals have

principally been centered on managing rapid

change and enabling users to more eectively

do their jobs. But since the global fnancial crisis

emerged in 2008, with the collapse o Lehman

Brothers, IT management challenges have

multiplied.

Some have succumbed to organizational and nancial pressures,

seemingly forced to accept they are a cost center that needs to be cut

back, trimmed and contained. Others, however, have reasserted their

centrality as part of a solution to the crisis. These IT organizations are

offering a way forward, a plan for difcult times strategic advantage.

The warp speed of new technology development and adoption, the

profusion of ICT service delivery models and pricing, and the volatility

of global nancial markets together magnify the challenges facing IT

executives and practitioners. New business delivery models that extend

IT systems to customers and partners outside organization boundariesonly add to the complexity.

Organizations are focused on making the best use of their capital in

todays low interest rate environment. Smart organizations are looking

again at transformational projects that will deliver medium and long-term

returns, investments that may not have crossed the investment bar in

other times.

Respondents to this years IT Priorities study, the rst embracing US

organizations, help us better understand this difcult environment. We

sincerely thank our respondents for providing the information on which

this report and the following summary is based. Now lets take a look atwhat that information had to say.

ExecutiveS

ummary

More than

twice as many

organizations

report increased

IT budgets

in 2011 asreport budget

decreases.




IT budgets are mostly increasing or stable

Despite the constraints of an underperforming economy, more than twice as many organizations

report increased IT budgets in 2011 as report budget decreases. 38.7% of organizations say their

IT budgets have increased, while just 16.7% report lower budgets. 44.6% say their budgets year-

on-year were at.

Over 20% of organizations report budget increases of more than 10%. We will call these budget

winners and call those that have faced cuts of more than 10% budget losers.

Together these results paint a picture of a two-speed IT market in which some organizations are

pushing ahead aggressively with transformative projects based on new technology or new delivery

methods while others are bunkering down and looking inside for cost cutting opportunities. The

danger for the latter group is they may nd it increasingly hard to compete against leaner, more

agile, more modern and more automated competitors.

Budget winners are grinners

The survey shows budget winners (those reporting budget increases of 10% or more year-on-

year) are typically more focused than budget losers on IT priorities that directly create value for

their businesses through productivity and efciency gains. As ICT budgets continue to devolve to

management outside the core IT group, for example marketing, it seems likely that these managers

are deploying that budget into areas that more directly benet the business, such as CRM.

Of the key verticals we examine, the Telecommunications, IT and Technology and Healthcare

sectors have the largest proportions of budget winners. Far more organizations in Government arending their budgets are being cut than in other industries, but the Education and Media/Publishing/

Advertising sectors are also signicantly challenged. Budget winners and losers are not conned to

a particular size of organization, but organizations in the mid segment (100 to 499 staff) have the

highest proportion of budget winners at 25.2%. Organizations with more than 500 staff have the

highest proportion of budget losers 13.4%.

Our hypothesis, that the budget winners have won because they are doing things better and are

more customer focused than their peers who have lost resources, is strongly supported by another

nding budget winners are generally ahead in the deployment of modern, externally focused

business technologies. If they are behind in some more traditional application areas the difference is

marginal, and their intention to invest in these is much stronger than among budget losers.

Budget losers, therefore, are not just taking a pause from investment or reaching the end of a project

cycle they are under investing now as they have at least in the recent past. They are also investing

in solving legacy problems that add cost to the business, but are generally invisible to customers.

We do acknowledge in all of this that economic impacts and special circumstances in industry

verticals are also likely to play a part.

ExecutiveS

ummary




All this raises a question: how do budget losers break the cycle and win the trust of senior

leadership teams to do better in the next budget round?

Business leaders demand business benefts beore

loosening IT budget purse-strings

IT initiatives that directly deliver efciencies and productivity improvements to the business are

priorities for American IT executives in 2012. The top three IT priorities are improving business

process and efciency (a top priority or major priority for 69.1% of businesses), aligning IT

priorities with business growth (61.1%) and increasing overall productivity with new technologies

(59.5%).

These value-adding activities are prioritized at the expense of activities that are either internally

focused or, while they may make life easier for IT teams, have a lower direct impact on businessperformance (e.g. ease of deployment, ease of IT management).

Budget winners are prioritizing value-creating and client-focused activities. They therefore have a

better chance to contribute to their organizations nancial performance. Their IT management is

better placed to point to effective outcomes from IT investment and to argue for more.

Budget losers, meanwhile, are caught in a spiral of focusing on and achieving cuts in IT spending,

but they are falling behind more inspired and committed peers. Tackling expensive legacy is vital for

transformation. Money must be spent to migrate to virtualized and cloud environments to strongly

shift the organization towards a streamlined datacenter model.

When setting objectives or IT improvements, improvingbusiness processes is the key goal, but better access to

data or more inormed decision-making, and improved

security also eature prominently

Improved applications that better t business processes and improved access to data feature as

a top IT improvements targeted by US organizations, closely followed by improved security and

improved availability of IT infrastructure. There is little between these four priority IT improvements,

all scored mentions by between 57.1% and 60.4% or respondents. Together these paint a picture

of organizations searching for seamless performance from their IT systems, systems that t the

business, that talk to each other and that are secure and available when needed. These are

fundamental and timeless requirements in corporate IT management the bottom line, if you like,

which enables ICT to be a key contributor to the service delivery capability of the organization.

Improved business processes and efciency, alignment of IT with business growth, increasing

productivity through the use of new technology and meeting customer and partner expectations

are much stronger improvement objectives for budget winners than budget losers, whose budget

pressures make them much more intent on cutting IT costs.

ExecutiveS

ummary




Budget winners are consistently more involved in developing IT

capabilities that push their businesses services outside organizational

boundaries to connect with customers.

Large businesses have some

disadvantages in terms o IT cost

Large businesses have been implementing IT over a longer time period

than smaller and newer competitors (both in the US and, increasingly

in APAC economies). They consequently have a range of legacy IT

infrastructure that cost more, sometimes much more, than more modern

offerings based on virtualized and consolidated architectures and pay-

as-you-go service models. Changing this is an important focus for them.

The larger the business, the more focused they are on lowering IT

infrastructure costs. 66.2% of the largest businesses (>500 staff) are

lowering IT infrastructure costs, but this proportion declines for smaller

companies until it represents only 44.4% of the smallest businesses

(1-49 staff).

Government organizations are far more intent on cutting overall IT costs

(70%) than others, followed by nancial services organizations and rms

in the Media/Publishing/Advertising industries. All three industry groups

are famously facing extreme nancial pressures.

New technologies and application deliverymodels are leveling the playing feld, and

helping smaller organizations

Other than in seeking to lower the cost of legacy IT, company size is

no longer a clear predictor of the likely IT strategy of an organization.

However it is a predictor of technology adoption.

It is now commonplace to say smaller companies who adopt technology

imaginatively can outperform larger businesses in some areas through

the use of cloud computing and software as a service, self-service

portals, multi-channel marketing initiatives and product co-creation via

online communities. But it is large organizations targeting cloud and web

applications most strongly, almost certainly as a way to escape lock-in to

expensive legacy environments and to unleash capital to drive change.

ExecutiveS

ummary

Budget winners

are consistentlymore involved

in developing

IT capabilities

that push their

businesses

services outsid

organizationalboundaries to

connect with

customers.




Mobility and web applications are hot, hot, hot!

There will be a strong focus in 2012 and 2013 on projects to introduce mobile applications, but over

the next year web applications have priority. Organizations will also prioritize access to integrated

data across the organization to support improved decision-making.

US organizations will seek to extract value from existing staff and technologies through IT training

initiatives, and continue to pursue virtualization and consolidation efforts to simplify architecture,

centralize management and reduce IT costs while not disempowering front line staff.

Secure, responsive, 24/7 services designed or customer

satisaction and intimacy set challenges or IT teams

Protecting/securing the network is the most common challenge, keeping exactly half of this years

respondents awake at night, while 47.4% rate optimizing and controlling costs a top or major

challenge.

Improving service responsiveness is what taxes 38.9% of this years respondents.

However, reducing headcount in IT, outsourcing and offshoring, are not signicant challenges for

US IT professionals.

Competitive IT vendor pricing, service quality and fnancial

stability oat IT customers boats

There are no magic tricks for IT vendors looking to win new business. They will not get past rst basewith prospective customers unless they offer a price advantage, are willing to go the extra mile to

deliver high quality outcomes and have a stable nancial foundation. We strongly believe these criteria

should be the core of any vendor or partners corporate strategy.

Assuming the top three considerations are met, the key things vendors can do to win business is

use relationships, referrals, offer great technology and ensure they are established as an approved

supplier.

Having started with the IT users perspective, its tting to complete the cycle from the vendors

perspective. They too are challenged by the complexity of current markets, and the spiraling

demands of customers. As large users of IT themselves, they share their customers challenges.

ExecutiveS

ummary




A

boutTh

isReport Report Release Schedule

Initial Report

This report represents the initial release of survey ndings for IT

Priorities 2011.

Subsequent Reports

We will release subsequent versions of the report containing

addendums with further details on some of the technology areas

covered at top-line level in this report. Please check back to

www.zdnet.com for the additional results.

About IT Priorities

This is the rst North American installment of IT priorities, an annual

survey from CBS Interactive about the strategies, challenges and

implementation priorities of IT leaders and professionals across the

globe. In addition to this report, CBS Interactive is releasing reports

covering IT markets in ASEAN, UK, France, China, India and Australia

and New Zealand in coming months.

Please refer to the Methodology chapter at the end of this report for

more information about the report scope, respondent base and topics

covered.

About ZDNet and CBS Interactive

ZDNet (www.zdnet.com) is where technology means business. Thesite attracts an enthusiastic and interactive audience of business

technology inuencers, many of whom visit for the latest coverage and

analysis of how technology impacts business.

Business leaders and decision makers including CEOs, CIOs and IT

professionals at all levels value the site due to its extensive resources,

enabling them to make the most out of technology for their business

challenges.




Despite ongoing global nancial

uncertainties and intense revenue

pressures in some industries, manybusinesses are continuing to invest in

IT (even though they may be cutting in

other areas) because they see it as the

means to transform their businesses

through efciency and productivity

gains, and opening up new channels to

market.

38.7% of organizations say their IT

budgets increased, while 44.6% report

at budgets.

Just 16.7% of organizations face

a reduction in IT budgets, a quite

remarkable result given market

conditions. Budget decreases are also

much less common in private sector

organizations than in government.

Budget increases for many

organizations are comfortably higher

than ination, wages growth and GDP

growth.

ITBudge

tsWin

nersan

dLosers

Many businesses are continuing to invest in IT because they see

it as the means to transorm their businesses through efciency

and productivity gains, and opening up new channels to market.

Changes Compared to 2010

A large majority o respondents report increased or at IT budgets

in 2011 compared to 2010. Only a ew had their budgets chopped.

< $50,000

$50,000 to $99,999

$100,000 to $499,999

$500,000 to $999,999

$1m to $9.9 million

$10m to $19.9m

$20m to $49.8m

$50m to $249.9m

$250m to $499.9m

$500m plus

Expected IT Spend Next 12 Months

More Budget Winners Than Losers

UP by up to 10%

UP by 10% to 20%

UP by more than 20%

FLAT

DOWN by up to 10%

DOWN by 10% to 20%

DOWN by morethan 20%

Change in Budget v. 2012

The combined IT spending of respondents for2012 is $22.8 billion

IT budgets were up in 2011 for 38.7%, flat for44.6%, and down for 16.7%

17.5%

9.7%

11.5%44.6%

6.8%

41.3%

15.5%

14.9%

6.9%

12.0%

1.7%

1.2%

2.5%

2.7%

1.2%

5.3%

4.6%




There are clearly winners and losers in the budget

merry-go-round21.2% enjoyed budget increases above 10% (the budget winners), while 11.4% are dealing with

budget contractions of 10% and above (the budget losers).

One of the approaches of this survey is to compare the IT strategies of budget winners with those of

budget losers. Budget winners are typically more focused on IT priorities that directly create value for

their businesses through productivity and efciency gains.

Our hypothesis is the budget winners have won because they are doing things better than their

peers who have lost resources. They are delivering for their organizations and are seen to be

delivering. It is clear from these data that budget losers in 2011 are not merely at the end of an

investment phase or cycle or taking a pause from investment and projects. Budget winners aregenerally ahead in deploying customer focused and transformative technologies. We look in more

detail later in the report at the contrasting IT priorities and objectives of budget winners and losers.

Budget Changes; US v. APAC

IT budgets in the US are not increasing at the same rate as in the Asia Pacic (APAC) economies.

Budget increases among Chinese and Indian organizations (73.5% saw their budgets increase in

2011) are nearly twice as common as among US organizations. Outside of the developed country of

Singapore, they are also much more common in South East Asia.

The Asian Century?

US IT Budgets Changes v. Asia Pacific

1.4%1.6%3.1%

UP by more than 20%

DOWN by up to 10%

UP by 10% to 20%

DOWN by 10% to 20%

UP by up to 10%

DOWN by more than 20%

Flat

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

China

India

SEA

Australia/NZ

US

25.9% 31.3% 15.3% 21.5%

27.6% 23.2% 22.7% 20.3%

20.0% 18.2% 21.9% 30.9%

12.5% 12.1% 17.1% 44.8%

11.5% 9.7% 17.5% 44.6%

1.1%1.8%3.3%

2.3%2.7%3.9%

3.7%

3.5%6.4%

5.3%4.6%6.8%

ITBudge

tsWin

nersan

dLosers




Budgets by Organization Size

While budget winners and losers are not conned to a particular size of

organization, some segments have more of these than others.

Mid-sized organizations with between 100-499 staff have the highest

proportion of budget winners at 25.2%. Organizations of this size are

both hungry for growth and in need of systems to support increasingly

complex business processes, larger customer bases and internal

decision-making.

There is a higher proportion of budget losers among larger organizations

(with more than 500 staff) 13.4%. This is potentially because that

group contains many government organizations, which is the sector

suffering the most extensive budget cuts.

Budgets by Industry Sector

The Telecommunications, IT&T and Healthcare

sectors have the largest proportions o budget

winners, while a comparatively large proportion

Mid-sized

organizations

with between

100-499 staff

have the highest

proportion of

budget winners

at 25.2%.

Budget Changes By Organization Size

UP by more than 20%

DOWN by up to 10%

UP by 10% to 20%

DOWN by 10% to 20%

UP by up to 10%

DOWN by more than 20

Flat

All Respondents

500 and Above

100 to 499

Fewer than 100

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

11.5%

12.0%

14.0%

9.7%

9.9%

13.2%

8.2%

17.5%

20.8%

19.6%

14.6%

44.6%

40.4%

41.6%

48.5%

5.3%4.6%6.8%

8.1%7.0%6.4%

6.0%4.0%3.6%

3.2%3.2%8.2%

7.5%

ITBudge

tsWin

nersan

dLosers




o organizations in the Government, Education and Media/

Publishing/Advertising sectors are budget losers

Telecommunications is the industry with the most budget winners at 30.9%. Complexity, large

volumes of vital data, security and constant change drive IT to the forefront of business strategy in

this sector.

The IT&T sector is also amongst the budget winners with 28.2% enjoying budget increases of

10% and above. It is logical that for service providers to keep up with projects and demand from

customer organizations they must increase their own IT investment.

That the above two sectors have done relatively well is not surprising given the central role ICT plays

in service delivery, and its consequent contribution to positively differentiate service offerings from

those of competitors.

The Government sector is suffering by comparison, with only 15.4% of organizations gaining

increases of 10% and more and 29.2% facing cuts of more than 10%, the largest proportion in

any industry. Education is lagging with just 13.6% being budget winners and Media/Publishing/

Advertising trailing the pack with just 11.1%.

Pressure on the Obama administration to keep a lid on federal spending and even greater pressure

on state and municipal budgets is keeping a lid on ICT investment in the government and education

sectors. Healthcare, conversely, has to invest to manage changes brought about by government

healthcare reforms.

Telco, IT and Health Are Budget Winners

UP by more than 20%

DOWN by up to 10%

UP by 10% to 20%

DOWN by 10% to 20%

UP by up to 10%

DOWN by more than 20

Flat

All Respondents

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Telecommunications

IT& Technology

Healthcare

Retail & Wholesale

Manufacturing(Industrial/Process)

Finance/Banking/Insurance

Business Services/

Consulting

Government

Education

Media/Publishing/

Advertising

Other

11.5% 9.7% 17.5% 44.6% 5.3% 4.6% 6.8%

9.5% 21.4% 16.7% 38.1% 7.1%

2.4%

4.8%

15.1% 13.1% 15.4% 46.3% 5.8%

15.0% 8.0% 20.4% 42.5% 8.0% 4.4%

11.1% 9.3% 24.1% 44.4% 5.6%

6.3% 12.7% 22.8% 43.0% 6.3% 6.3%

10.2% 8.0% 27.3% 42.0% 4.5% 4.5%

5.6% 11.2% 15.9% 55.1% 4.7% 6.5%

8.9% 6.5% 10.6% 35.8% 8.9% 15.4% 13.8%

7.5% 6.1% 17.0% 46.3% 5.4% 8.2% 9.5%

4.4% 6.7% 20.0% 46.7% 4.4% 15.6%

14.9% 8.5% 16.4% 44.7% 6.1% 4.3% 5.2%

1.2%

1.8%

3.7%

2.5%

1.9%

3.1%

3.4%

0.9%

11.2%

ITBudge

tsWin

nersan

dLosers




Priorities or All Respondents

IT initiatives that directly deliver efciencies and productivity improvements to the business are

priorities for US IT executives in 2011.

The top three IT priorities in 2011 are improving business process and efciency (a top priority or

major priority for 69.1% of businesses), aligning IT priorities with business growth (61.1%) and

increasing overall productivity with new technologies (59.5%).

These value-adding activities are prioritized at the expense of activities that, whilst they make life

easier for IT teams, have a low impact on business performance (e.g. ease of deployment, ease of

management).

Aligning IT with the business is a constant objective of IT executives, but in hard times it becomes

central. Without condence in such alignment, organizations can apply precious capital in sub-

optimal and even damaging ways.

A surprisingly low priority is being put on improving data mining and business intelligence capabilities

(37.8%) and mobile workforce (34.8%). It is likely the kinds of advantages such projects deliver

are hard to dene and therefore hard to justify when competing for funds with projects offering

quantiable business improvements, especially if mobility is aimed at enabling remote access rather

than improved customer service and creating more efcient service processes.

Green initiatives are the lowest IT priority (20.6%), despite coverage in industry media.

IT

Priorities

IT Priorities Efficiency, Productivity and Growth% of respondents that answered Top Priority and Major Priority

Improving business processes and efficiency

Aligning IT priorities with business growth

Increasing overall productivitythrough new technologies

Meeting external customers/partnerexpectations and standards

Meeting departmental/internal customerexpectations/wants and needs

Managing risk

Reduction in overall IT costs

Ensure Compliance

Ease of management

Ease of deployment

Organization-wide data integration

Improving data mining and business intelligencecapabilities for more informed decision making

Managing a mobile workforce

Green initiatives

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

69.1%

61.1%

59.5%

59.1%

58.5%

54.8%

53.1%

52.8%

52.1%

52.0%

45.9%

37.8%

20.6%

34.8%




The Dierent Priorities o Budget Winners and Losers

Why have some organizations had budget increases whilst the

budgets o others are chopped? There may be several contributing

actors, but its clear that budget winners, in prioritizing value-

creating and client-ocused priorities, have a better chance to

contribute to their organizations fnancial perormance. As a

result, they will be better placed in the next budget round to point

to the eective outcomes o their IT initiatives, and to argue or

increased budget or next year.

Budget winners put more focus on value-creating activities than their budget loser peers at other

organizations.

Budget winners are also more likely to be prioritizing initiatives that help the business service clients,

such as meeting external customer/partners needs (68.6% of budget winners prioritizing compared

with 55.1% of budget losers) and managing a mobile workforce (43% compared with 25.9%).

They are also much less likely to be derailed by the need to reduce overall IT costs (although that is

still important, even for budget winners with 53.2% prioritizing).

Why have some organizations had budget increases

whilst the budgets o others are chopped?

Budget Winners Prioritize Value-Creating InitiativesIT Priorities % of respondents that answered Top Consideration and Major Consideration

Budget winners put more focus on the IT areas that all respondents say are highest priorities

Budget winners are more focused on external stakeholders, and on new initiatives like

mobile workforce that have high potential for efficiency and client service improvements

Improving business

processes and efficiency

0% 20% 40% 60% 80%

81.6%

Budget Winners Budget Losers

65.2%

77.1%

53.8%

76.8%

48.1%

68.6%

55.1%

43.0%

25.9%

53.2%

67.7%

Aligning IT priorities

with business growth

Increasing overall productivity

through new technologies

Meeting external customers/partner

expectations and standards

Managing a mobile workforce

Reduction in overall IT costs

IT

Priorities




Addressing Key IT Priorities Segment Size

The leading IT priority, improving business processes and

efciency, is a top priority irrespective o the size o the

organization, but or many o the other priorities signifcant

dierences emerge between dierent sized organizations.

A reduction in overall IT costs is a much stronger priority for large organizations than small or

medium-sized ones. 66.2% of organizations with over 500 staff rate this top or a major priority.

Issues of compliance, naturally, also tax large organizations most strongly as does improving data

mining and business intelligence capabilities for more informed decision making.

Medium-sized organizations are prioritizing, increasing overall productivity through new technologies,

with 65.7% rating it a top or major priority. Medium-sized organizations rank ease of management

and ease of deployment lower than either small organizations, which often lack internal specialist IT

resources, or large organizations, which struggle with both process complexity and legacy systems.

Reduction in Overall IT Costs

Top Priority Major Priority A Priority Low PriorityNo

Consideration

Fewer Than 100 15.4% 29.0% 38.4% 12.4% 4.9%

100 to 499 16.7% 35.9% 39.0% 6.8% 1.6%

500 and Above 29.4% 36.8% 26.8% 5.0% 2.0%

Grand Total20.3% 32.8% 34.7% 8.9% 3.3%

IT

Priorities

Improving Data Mining and Business Intelligence Capabilities

for More Informed Decision Making


Consideration

Fewer Than 100 12.4% 24.1% 31.9% 18.4% 13.2%

100 to 499 12.4% 23.5% 31.9% 25.5% 6.8%

500 and Above 10.1% 30.7% 35.7% 15.6% 7.9%

Grand Total 11.6% 26.2% 33.2% 18.7% 10.3%

Increasing Overall Productivity Through New Technologies


Consideration

Fewer Than 100 21.3% 34.7% 32.2% 8.7% 3.1%

100 to 499 23.1% 42.6% 26.7% 6.4% 1.2%

500 and Above 24.6% 36.6% 30.0% 6.4% 2.4%

Grand Total 22.7% 36.8% 30.5% 7.5% 2.5%




Addressing Key IT Priorities Key Verticals

Tellingly, it is government that is putting the most emphasis on

reduction in overall IT costs, with 70% rating this a top or major

priority. In the current environment it is hard not to conclude that

any savings achieved are unlikely to be applied to developing better

systems to deliver automation and transormation, but or other

sectors there is much more hope that saved resources can be used

to deliver positive change.

Finance, Telecommunications and Manufacturing are most focused on increasing overall productivity

through new technologies. All of these are highly competitive market segments with customers that

are highly sensitive to price, service and quality.

The Finance and Healthcare sectors prioritize. Ensuring compliance much more strongly than the

others at 70.5% and 69% compared with 52.8% overall.

Increasing Overall Productivity Through New Technologies


Consideration

IT & Technology 23.9% 37.8% 28.6% 6.9% 2.7%

Education 23.1% 25.2% 38.8% 11.6% 1.4%

Government 22.0% 28.5% 40.7% 7.3% 1.6%

Healthcare 25.7% 33.6% 27.4% 10.6% 2.7%

Business Services/Consulting 17.8% 43.9% 33.6% 2.8% 1.9%

Finance/Banking/Insurance 23.9% 46.6% 23.9% 4.5% 1.1%

Manufacturing (Industrial/Process) 13.8% 53.8% 23.8% 5.0% 3.8%

Retail & Wholesale 20.4% 35.2% 40.7% 1.9% 1.9%

Media/Publishing/Advertising 31.1% 22.2% 35.6% 8.9% 2.2%

Telecommunications 28.6% 42.9% 21.4% 4.8% 2.4%

Other 22.8% 37.7% 26.7% 9.1% 3.6%

Grand Total 22.7% 36.8% 30.5% 7.5% 2.5%

IT

Priorities




When talking about specifc objectives or IT improvements,

respondents again stress the importance o improving business

processes, as they did when identiying their IT priorities.

Respondents are also putting ocus on improved access to data or

more inormed decision making, improved security and improved

availability and system perormance.

60.4% say improving applications to better t business process is a top consideration or major

consideration.

Improving access to information or data for more informed decision making is an important

consideration for 58.6% of respondents. This did not feature prominently as an IT priority (being

ranked 12th), so it appears this objective is a focus in projects generally, as an adjunct to otherpriorities, rather than a key priority in its own right.

Respondents consider security to be an important focus for improvement, with 57.4% rating it a

top consideration or major consideration. High prole and embarrassing hacks, data breaches

and constant online attacks from both foreign government and non-government sources, from

mischievous individuals, hactivists and others is driving this concern.

The need to improve availability and performance of IT infrastructure is given similar prominence,

with 57.1% rating it a top consideration or major consideration.

Improvements aimed at developing new offerings/services to differentiate from competitors (42.4%)

and developing and creating new channels and points of distribution (31.8%) do not gure in the toprankings overall, but they are more important for budget winners (see over).

ITImpro

vements

IT Improvement Is Business Improvement% of respondents that answered Top Consideration and Major Consideration

Improving applications to better

fit business processes

Improve access to information or data

for more informed decision making

Improve security of information and IT systems

Improve availability and performance

of IT infrastructure

Lower cost of underlying IT infrastructure

Developing new offerings/services to differentiate

from competitors (e.g., utilizing social media toreach new mobile payments and applications

Ensuring IT personnel are trained

to support improvements

Monitoring end-user experience

Improve IT support time to an on-demand format

Developing and creating new channels and point ofdistribution (e.g., selling of products or services online)

Organizational changes (adding users)

Supporting reduction of carbon footprint

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

60.4%

58.6%

57.4%

57.1%

49.0%

42.4%

41.9%

36.8%

36.7%

31.8%

26.2%

16.6%




IT Improvements Budget Winners Just Do It

Budget winners are more ocused than budget losers on developing

new capabilities to dierentiate their businesses rom competitors

and develop new channels to market. They are consistently more

involved in developing IT capabilities that push their businesses

services outside organizational boundaries to connect with

customers. Budget winners are clearly ahead o the competition in

helping generate business advantage.

Over one half (52.6%) of budget winners say developing new offerings/services to differentiate from

competitors (e.g., utilizing social media to reach new markets or mobile payments and applications)

is a top or major consideration compared to only 36.4% of budget losers.

40.2% of budget winners are developing and creating new channels and point of distribution (e.g.,

selling of products or services online or using buying groups to market new products and services),

but only 22.3% of budget losers are doing so.

Budget losers are much more likely to be focusing on activities that dont improve their businesses

market capabilities. They are hampered, especially, by the need to focus on lowering the cost of IT

infrastructure: 60.3% of budget losers have this as a top or major consideration, compared to

just 47% of budget winners.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%

Budget Winners Just Do It, Losers Rue ItObjectives behind IT improvements (% of respondents that answered Top Consideration and Major Consideration)

Developing new offerings/services to differentiate

from competitors (e.g., utilizing social media to reach

new markets or mobile payments and applications)

Developing and creating new channels and point of

distribution (e.g., selling of products of services online or

using buying groups to market new products and services)

Improve applications to better fit business processes

Improve access to information or data

for more informed decision making

Lower cost of underlying IT infrastructure

Budget winners are building new capabilities, improving the business

Budget losers are constrained, they make do and mend

Budget Winners Budget Losers

22.3%

52.6%

36.4%

40.2%

71.5%

55.4%

67.1%

53.7%

47.0%

60.3%

ITImpro

vements




IT Improvements By Organization Size

Large businesses are at a disadvantage in

terms o cost o IT, because they have been

implementing IT over a longer time period

than smaller and newer competitors. They

consequently have a range o legacy IT

inrastructure or which costs exceed current

oerings based on virtualized and consolidated

architectures and pay-as-you-go service models.

The larger the business, the more focused it is on lowering IT

infrastructure costs. 63% of the largest businesses (>500 staff) rank

lowering IT infrastructure costs their top or a major consideration,

compared with just 39.8% in small organizations and 52.5% in medium-

sized organizations.

Other than lowering the cost o legacy IT

and improving security o inormation and IT

systems, company size is no longer a clear

predictor o the likely IT ocus or IT evolutionarystage o an organization. Developments such

as cheap or ree sotware, pay-as-you-go

applications oerings and cost-eective internet

access allow tiny businesses to compete with

the largest companies. Smaller companies that

adopt technology imaginatively can outperorm

larger businesses through sel-service portals,

multi-channel marketing campaigns and product

co-creation via online communities.

51.6% of organizations with less than 100 employees rank improving

security of information and IT systems as a top or major consideration

compared with 65.9% of organizations with more than 500 employees.

Company sizeis no longer a

clear predictor

of the likely

IT focus or IT

evolutionary

stage of an

organization.

ITImpro

vements




ITImpro

vements

IT Improvements By Key Verticals

Organizations in fnance and government put the highest IT

improvement ocus on improving applications to better ft business

processes, but this is an important ocus across all industries.

Security is a high-ranking consideration across industries, but one really stands out: Government.

69.3% of Government organizations rate it a top or a major consideration compared with 57.4%

overall. With talk of cyber war, attacks attributed to Chinese hackers, data leakage concerns after

Wiki leaks and other threats, government is threatened from both inside and from the outside.

The threats in the Media/Publishing/Advertising sector are mainly driven by digitization and new

technologies and online services. The sector is way ahead of others in rating developing new

offerings/services to differentiate from competitors (e.g., utilizing social media to reach new markets

or mobile payments and applications) a top or major consideration (69.5% compared with 42.4%).They also rate developing and creating new channels and point of distribution (e.g., selling of

products or services online or using buying groups to market new products and services) highest

at 66.6%.

Lower Cost of Underlying IT Structure

TopConsideration

AConsideration

MajorConsideration

MinorConsideration

NoConsideration

Fewer Than 100 12.2% 40.4% 27.6% 13.6% 6.1%

100 to 499 12.3% 41.2% 40.2% 5.4% 1.0%

500 and Above 20.5% 29.8% 42.5% 4.7% 2.5%

Grand Total 14.7% 37.4% 34.3% 9.5% 4.1%

Improve Security of Information and IT Systems

Top

Consideration

A

Consideration

Major

Consideration

Minor

Consideration

No

Consideration

Fewer Than 100 19.4% 31.1% 32.2% 11.9% 5.4%

100 to 499 23.5% 34.8% 36.8% 3.9% 1.0%

500 and Above 28.0% 26.7% 37.9% 5.0% 2.5%

Grand Total 22.7% 30.5% 34.7% 8.4% 3.7%




ITImpro

vements As business extends outside organization boundaries to provideprocesses or customers and supply chain partners, IT teams are

challenged to support these customer-ocused business networks.

Improve Security of Information and IT Systems

TopConsideration

AConsideration

MajorConsideration

MinorConsideration

NoConsideration

IT & Technology 23.9% 27.8% 32.5% 10.5% 5.3%

Education 20.0% 34.8% 33.9% 5.2% 6.1%

Government 39.6% 24.2% 29.7% 5.5% 1.1%


Healthcare 25.3% 29.9% 36.8% 5.7% 2.3%





Engineering & Construction 12.9% 25.8% 38.7% 22.6% 0.0%

Other 19.2% 34.1% 34.5% 7.7% 4.6%

Grand Total 22.7% 30.5% 34.7% 8.4% 3.7%

Developing New Offerings/Services to Differentiate from Competitors(e.g., utilizing social media to reach new markets or mobile payments and applications)

Top

Consideration

A

Consideration

Major

Consideration

Minor

Consideration

No

Consideration

IT & Technology 28.2% 23.0% 28.2% 11.5% 9.1%

Education 12.2% 33.9% 20.0% 12.2% 21.7%

Government 4.4% 22.0% 24.2% 19.8% 29.7%


Healthcare 11.5% 33.3% 26.4% 12.6% 16.1%

Finance/Banking/Ins 15.1% 37.0% 27.4% 13.7% 6.8%

Manuacturing(Industrial/Process) 4.7% 34.4% 18.8% 18.8% 23.4%



Engineering & Construction 9.7% 22.6% 32.3% 22.6% 12.9%

Other 14.6% 30.3% 26.4% 16.1% 12.6%

Grand Total 15.8% 29.6% 26.6% 14.0% 13.9%




ITChallenges

IT Challenges What Keeps US IT Awake at Night?% of respondents that answered Top Challenge and Major Challenge

Protecting/securing the network

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Optimizing and controlling costs

Improving service responsiveness

Decreasing IT budgets

Changing business requirements

Business continuity

Outdated infrastructure

Developing/delivering applications

Proliferation of personal mobile devices

into the corporate environmentPenetrating new markets and channels

Meeting regulatory compliance

Insufficient IT skills/training

Workers wanting to be mobile(moving to a virtual workforce)

Web services

Data center consolidation

Reduced IT head count

Costs and skills pressure tooutsource certain functions

Costs and skills pressure tooffshore certain functions

50.0%

47.4%

38.9%

38.4%

36.3%

35.5%

34.8%

33.0%

32.0%

31.4%

29.8%

27.3%

26.2%

25.5%

21.7%

18.7%

16.5%

10.1%

They must ensure security o customers and stakeholders

inormation and, while the unctions and roles o IT balloons, costs

cannot be allowed to ollow suit.

Protecting/securing the network is the most common challenge (50% of organizations say this is a

top or major challenge), while 47.4% rate optimizing and controlling costs as a key issue.

Improving service responsiveness is (a top or major challenge for 38.9% of respondents) and

decreasing IT budgets and costs keep respondents awake at night especially the budget losers.




IT Challenges - By Organization Size

It seems some IT challenges have been over-

egged in the media. For instance, while there

have been endless stories about users setting

the agenda in deploying their own personal

mobile devices in the business, this does not

appear to perturb US user organizations all that

greatly. Only 26.2% o small organizations rated

it a top or major challenge while 40.7% o large

organizations did likewise.

Once again, costs emerge as a bigger challenge for large organizations

than smaller ones. 57.2% rate optimizing and controlling costs a top or

major challenge compared with 47.5% and 40.8% in medium and small

organizations respectively.

However, even in large organizations this pressure does not appear to

manifest itself as a manpower issue. Reduced IT headcount, insufcient

IT skills and pressure for outsourcing are not rated highly in the challenge

stakes. This could lead you to believe that downward cost pressure is

felt most by large organizations in areas such as upgrades and projects

rather than in the core of the IT department.

Almost across the board, the scale and complexity of large organizations

leads executives to rate many areas of IT challenge as more pressing

than for executives in smaller rms.

ITChallenges

While there

have been

endless stories

about users

setting the

agenda in

deploying theirown personal

mobile devices

in the business,

this does not

appear to

perturb US user

organizationsall that greatly.

Optimizing and Controlling Costs

Top

Challenge

Major

Challenge

A

Challenge

Not a

Challenge

No

Consideration

Fewer Than 100 14.3% 26.5% 40.0% 13.1% 6.2%

100 to 499 12.0% 35.5% 40.2% 10.8% 1.6%

500 and Above 18.2% 39.0% 35.3% 4.8% 2.6%

Grand Total 15.1% 32.2% 38.5% 9.9% 4.2%




IT Challenges By Key Verticals

Penetrating new markets and channels is a particular challenge

or IT in the IT and Technology sector and in Media/Publishing/

Advertising. The frst is a highly dynamic industry constantly

managing change. The second is a traditional industry challenged

by change that is proving very difcult to manage.

Healthcare is easily the industry most challenged by issues of compliance. 52.2% of respondents in

the sector rate it a top or major challenge.

Government (49.6% rating a top or major challenge), Education and Retail & Wholesale are the

sectors that report they are most challenged by outdated infrastructure. In what is almost certainly a

related challenge, Government gave the highest rating to data center consolidation (32.6%).

ITChallenges

Meeting Regulatory Compliance

Top

Challenge

Major

Challenge

A

Challenge

Not a

Challenge

No

Consideration

IT & Technology 10.4% 18.5% 31.3% 25.5% 14.3%

Education 11.6% 18.4% 30.6% 24.5% 15.0%

Government 16.3% 19.5% 43.1% 17.9% 3.3%

Healthcare 23.0% 29.2% 32.7% 8.8% 6.2%







Other 9.4% 15.2% 27.1% 27.7% 20.7%

Grand Total 11.6% 18.2% 32.2% 23.6% 14.4%




ITChallenges Outdated Infrastructure

TopChallenge

MajorChallenge

AChallenge

Not aChallenge

NoConsideration

IT & Technology 12.4% 20.8% 28.6% 26.6% 11.6%

Education 18.4% 26.5% 34.0% 16.3% 4.8%

Government 19.5% 30.1% 30.9% 12.2% 7.3%

Healthcare 10.6% 22.1% 38.1% 23.0% 6.2%







Other 10.3% 24.0% 31.3% 21.9% 12.5%

Grand Total 12.3% 22.6% 33.7% 22.6% 8.9%




VendorsandPartn

erSelectionCriteria

There are no magic tricks or IT vendors looking to win newbusiness. They will not get past frst base with prospective

customers unless they oer a price advantage, are willing to go

the extra mile to deliver high quality outcomes, and have a stable

fnancial oundation. We strongly believe these criteria should be

the core o any vendor or partners corporate strategy. Assuming

the top three considerations are met, the key things that vendors

can do to win business is use relationships, reerrals and ensure

that they are established as an approved supplier.

Competitive pricing is rated by 81.7% of respondents as a top or major consideration when

selecting vendors and partners. Close behind on 75.6% quality and timeliness of deliverables is

similarly important, and 63% view the nancial stability of the vendor as important.

Vendors without the above three qualities, should go back to the drawing board, but the especially

persistent may consider building and leveraging relationships. Emphasizing the importance of

personal connections, 53.9% of respondents rated referrals/recommendations as important.

Existing channel or partner relationships were rated a top or major consideration by 48.6% of

respondents.

Given the highly tangible nature of the top three criteria, its interesting that as many as 30.7% still

say brand name is of importance.

IT vendors will not get past frst base with prospective customers unles

they oer a price advantage, are willing to go the extra mile to deliv

high quality outcomes, and have a stable fnancial oundatio

Vendor Selection Criteria Buyers Want Value% of respondents that answered Top Consideration and Major Consideration

Competitive pricing

Quality and timeliness of deliverables (SLA)

Financial stability of the company

Referrals/recommendations

Existing channel or partner relationship

Leading-edge technologies

Approved supplier status

Brand name

Cloud capabilities

Open source

Proprietary technology

BPO capabilities

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

81.7%

75.6%

63.0%

53.9%

48.6%

44.3%

43.4%

30.7%

24.8%

21.7%

20.9%

14.1%




Vendors and Partner Selection Criteria

By Organization SizeAll organizations are notably sensitive to price and expect

competitive rates, but mid-sized organizations appear slightly more

sensitive than the rest. Similarly, organizations o all sizes place a

high value on the quality and timeliness o deliverables.

Companies across the board price vendor nancial stability highly. However, it is large companies,

many of which have implemented structured procurement processes over the years, especially in

government, that most require suppliers to be approved (55% rating a top or major consideration).

Small organizations rank open source most strongly as a top or major procurement consideration

(25.9%). They also appear most receptive to referrals and recommendations (57.1%).

VendorsandPartn

erSelectionCriteria

Approved Supplier Status

Top

Consideration

Major

Consideration

A

Consideration

Minor

Consideration

No

Consideration

Fewer Than 100 12.9% 23.4% 33.7% 10.9% 19.1%

100 to 499 14.3% 27.1% 36.3% 10.4% 11.6%

500 and Above 17.3% 37.7% 32.2% 5.7% 7.0%

Grand Total 14.6% 28.8% 33.7% 9.1% 13.8%

Open Source

Top

Consideration

Major

Consideration

A

Consideration

Minor

Consideration

No

Consideration

Fewer Than 100 8.4% 17.5% 36.0% 18.8% 19.3%

100 to 499 4.0% 10.0% 39.4% 27.5% 18.7%

500 and Above 3.9% 15.8% 34.4% 27.4% 18.4%

Grand Total 6.1% 15.6% 36.1% 23.2% 18.9%




Vendors and Partner Selection Criteria

By Key VerticalsApproved supplier status (68.3%) is a more

important vendor selection criterion or

government than or other industries, but it is

education and healthcare that most value in

existing channel or partner relationships.

The Media/Publishing/Advertising sector most prizes cloud capability

from its vendors, almost certainly as a way to enable a distributed

workforce and mobility and to provide an exit from expensive legacy

technologies. That sector (53.4%) is close behind the IT and Technology

industry (55.6%) in placing highest value on Leading-edge technologies.

At 37.8% Media/ Publishing/Advertising also holds open source

technologies in higher regard than all other industry sectors. However,

it also leads in approving proprietary systems, albeit at a lower level

(28.9%).

The Media/

Publishing/

Advertising

sector most

prizes cloud

capability

from itsvendors.

VendorsandPartn

erSelectionCriteria

Approved Supplier Status

Top

Consideration

Major

Consideration

A

Consideration

Minor

Consideration

No

Consideration

IT & Technology 15.4% 22.8% 33.2% 10.0% 18.5%

Education 17.0% 30.6% 34.0% 8.8% 9.5%

Government 26.8% 41.5% 20.3% 4.9% 6.5%

Healthcare 16.8% 30.1% 39.8% 8.0% 5.3%







Other 14.9% 26.1% 33.1% 9.4% 16.4%

Grand Total 14.6% 28.8% 33.7% 9.1% 13.8%




VendorsandPartn

erSelectionCriteria Cloud Capabilities

TopConsideration

MajorConsideration

AConsideration

MinorConsideration

NoConsideration

IT & Technology 12.4% 20.1% 34.7% 17.4% 15.4%

Education 4.8% 18.4% 44.9% 18.4% 13.6%

Government 3.3% 12.2% 43.9% 22.0% 18.7%

Healthcare 4.4% 23.0% 31.9% 23.0% 17.7%







Other 7.0% 17.0% 34.0% 21.3% 20.7%

Grand Total 6.6% 18.2% 36.8% 20.9% 17.5%




Respondents report that current economic

conditions are having impacts in their

organizations. In itsel, that is ar rom

surprising. Global fnancial disruption has

maniested itsel in markets as volatility rather

than outright decline and IT is subject to that

as well.

Overall, the main reported impacts are reduced IT budgets (55.9% of

respondents), the need for a more thorough business case/justication

for new IT projects (54.4%) and IT budgets being revised more frequently

(51.2%).

While many report deferral of IT projects and having to go higher in their

organizations for decisions, IT outsourcing is only being increased by

20.4% of organizations, perhaps because many already do so.

ImpactofEconomicC

onditions

The GFC Bites On IT% O respondents that answered Major & Some Impact

20.4%

55.9%

54.4%

51.2%

46.0%

43.6%

40.9%

37.2%

IT budget has been reduced

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Need a more thorough business case/

justification for new IT projects

IT budget is being revised more frequently

Short-term IT projects/plans have been deferred

IT decision making and approvals now go to a higher level

ROI or TCO has to be calculated for all IT purchases

All IT contracts are being re-evaluated and re-negotiated

IT outsourcing is being increased




Impact o Economic Conditions

By Organization SizeAcross the board, the impacts o the Global

Financial Crisis are being elt most by larger

organizations, almost certainly because o the

higher level o ormality they employ in making

budget allocations and management decisions.

Impact o Economic Conditions

By Key Verticals

As seen in other parts o this report, it is in

government that the most budget pressure is

being elt. 68.3% o organizations report IT

budget has been reduced because o economic

conditions. Education is the next most aected

(65.3%).

Government also leads other sectors in other areas of economic impact,

including more frequent reviews of budget, project deferrals and having

to go higher in the organization for decisions.

The only impact where government was not most affected was

ROI or TCO has to be calculated for all IT purchases, led by

Telecommunications (52.4%) and closely followed by Media/Publishing/

Advertising (48.9%).

It is in

government

that themost budget

pressure is

being felt.

ImpactofEconomicC

onditions




Introduction

This section of the report highlights future implementation trends and existing deployments for

83 technologies across six technology categories: Software & Applications; Servers/Storage/

Datacenter; Network and Security; Communications; Hardware; IT Services, Support &

Management. To increase the accuracy of the results, we asked deployment intentions for each

category only to respondents who indicated in an earlier response that they had some level of

responsibility for the technological categories.

The Hot Technologies or 2012

Across All Technology Categories

There will be a strong ocus in 2012 on projects to develop web

applications while over the next two years that emphasis will

shit to applications on mobile devices (tablets and notebooks).

Organizations will also prioritize secure backup, recovery and

archiving and to improve access to integrated data across the

organization to support decision-making. Businesses will also

seek to extract value rom existing sta and technologies through

IT training initiatives and at the same time are looking to server

migration, virtualization and consolidation to simpliy architecture

and reduce IT costs.

The strongest priority is introduction of web applications, with 31.1% of businesses planning such

projects in the next 12 months.

30.9% of businesses will implement IT training in the same time frame, and 30.6% are implementing

backup, recovery and archiving systems.

TechnologyDe

ploymentTrends

There will be a strong ocus in 2012 on projects to develop web

applications while over the next two years that emphasis will shit to

applications on mobile devices (tablets and notebooks).




TechnologyDe

ploymentTrends

Sotware and Applications

In the next 12 months, web applications projects

and mobile applications are the frst and second

priorities in the sotware and applications

technology category. Integrated enterprise-

wide inormation access is next with 27.5% o

respondents planning projects in the next year.

Fourth on the list is the sotware that lies behind

and powers most enterprise systems: database

management systems.

Almost one third of respondents (31.1%) will implement web application

projects in the next 12 months. These new deployments will augment

the 25.6% whove already completed such projects, resulting in over one

half (56.7%) of all respondents deploying web applications by the end of

2012 if those plans proceed.

28.8% will deploy mobile applications in the next 12 months, raising the

proportion of organizations whove implemented mobile applications by

the end of 2012 to 48.7%.

Almost onethird of

respondents

(31.1%) will

implement

web

application

projectsin the next

12 months.

31.1% 25.6%17.4%Web applications Software

The 10 Hottest Technologies for 2012

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

30.9% 20.8%13.0%

30.6% 42.8%11.7%

30.3% 23.0%13.5%

28.9% 22.6%16.3%

28.8% 19.9%22.1%

27.8% 24.9%12.3%

27.5% 22.0%19.3%

25.8% 20.2%12.2%

25.7% 39.3%14.2%

IT training IT Services

Backup, Recovery and

Archiving Servers etc.

Server migration Servers etc.

Tablets Hardware

Mobile applications Software

Server consolidation Servers etc.

Integrated enterprise-wide

information access Software

Mobile applications Communications

Database Software




By 2012, a further 27.5% of organizations will join the 22% whove

already implemented projects to provide integrated enterprise-wide

information access, a total of 49.5%.

The most mature application categories are Mail and messaging

followed by HR, payroll and accounts.

Networking and Security

Respondents will prioritize security and basic

networking inrastructure projects in the next 12

months, and at the same time move to protect

their networks against intrusion (the third

priority in this category). Organizations will bee

up network security across a range o vectors

including improved antivirus/spyware/malware

systems, authentication, fltering and physical

security among others. Network security threats

have multiplied and are no longer theoretical.

Network managers are responding.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Software and Applications

Next 12 Months 1 to 2 Years Already Complete

Web applications

Mobile applicationsIntegrated enterprise-wide

information access

DatabaseVirtualization (including

consolidation and integration)

CollaborationNew business applications

based on Web 2.0 technologies

Cloud computing

Mail and messaging

BI (business intelligence)

Order processing/customer service

eCommerce

CRM (customer relationship management)

Localized software of service support

HR, payroll and accounts

ERP (enterprise resource planning)

Applications of SOA model(service oriented architecture)

Middleware

Logistics and supply chain

31.1% 25.6%17.4%

28.8% 19.9%22.1%

27.5% 22.0%19.3%

25.7% 39.3%14.2%

24.3% 31.3%18.3%

24.2% 21.2%17.2%

23.7% 10.8%23.5%

23.1% 16.6%22.7%

20.9% 48.9%13.1%

20.6% 14.9%18.0%

19.2% 29.0%13.0%

18.4% 19.3%14.3%

18.0% 26.0%14.1%

17.5% 30.8%15.9%

15.8% 36.9%13.8%

15.0% 17.4%16.6%

14.7% 12.7%13.7%

12.7% 14.7%13.1%

12.4% 17.0%12.9%

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Around one quarter (24.7%) of respondents are enhancing network security in the next 12 months

while the same number plan on adding or upgrading core infrastructure such as routers and

switches.

Security is a major focus, with 22.5% deploying intrusion detection within 12 months, 19.1%

are strengthening antivirus/spyware/malware protection, and 18% are working on authentication

projects. In addition, 15.9% have plans for projects to increase physical security and 12.3%

hosted security.

Server, Storage and Datacenter

Attracted by the prospects o simplifcation and cost savings,

organizations are putting a strong ocus on server virtualization and

consolidation initiatives in the next 12 months. But it is backup,

recovery and archiving that leads in this category, with 30.6% o

organizations planning such projects in the next year. Storage

is another priority with over one-quarter embarking on storage

Around one quarter (24.7%) o respondents are

enhancing network security in the next 12 months

Networking & Security

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%


Network security 24.7% 51.5%10.7%

Core infrastructure (routers, switches) 24.7% 44.7%13.2%

Intrusion detection 22.5% 43.9%12.8%

Antivirus/spyware/malware 19.1% 61.1%7.5%

Authentication 18.9% 43.6%11.1%

Load balancing 18.6% 25.4%14.6%

Email messaging/spam filtering 18.3% 59.8%8.6%

Web filtering 18.3% 44.5%8.7%

LAN 17.5% 54.0%11.0%

WAN 16.3% 45.5%11.4%

Physical security 15.9% 49.3%9.2%

Hosted security 12.3% 27.7%8.3%

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consolidation and one-fth looking at

storage virtualization. Green IT eorts

are near the bottom o the list, though

virtualization and consolidation does

contribute to such eorts by increasing

utilization and reducing power usage

compared with running multiple physical

servers.

Just under one third (30.6%) of respondents will undertake

backup, recovery and archiving projects in the next 12 months,

followed by server migration (30.3%) and server consolidation

(27.8%) initiatives.

There is a lesser focus on desktop virtualization, with 19.5% of

respondents planning to initiate projects in this area in the next

12 months.

Organizations are

putting a strongfocus on server

virtualization and

consolidation

initiatives in the next

12 months. But it is

backup, recovery

and archivingthat leads in this

category.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Servers, Storage, Datacenter


Backup, Recovery and Archiving 30.6% 42.8%11.7%

Server migration 30.3% 23.0%13.5%

Server consolidation 27.8% 24.9%12.3%

Storage consolidation 25.3% 23.1%15.5%

Server virtualization 24.2% 28.4%12.9%

Data encryption 20.1% 21.2%14.2%

Storage virtualization 19.6% 18.7%14.6%

Desktop virtualization 19.5% 10.7%18.3%

NAS/SAN 16.8% 30.7%10.1%

SAN 14.9% 26.5%10.0%

UPS14.8% 48.2%8.6%

Green IT 13.2% 10.8%13.6%

Power and cooling 11.9% 41.4%8.3%

Blade Servers 9.2% 15.1%10.5%

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Communications

Respondents with responsibility or communications say they

are prioritizing implementations o mobile applications as their

colleagues with sotware responsibilities also reported, albeit over

a longer timerame. For US IT executives, it is otherwise all about

collaboration, with an array o systems such as video conerencing,

online meeting sotware and unifed communications on their

shopping lists. However, some less exciting work is also in store

or IT teams, with 17.1% planning to review telecommunications

contracts.

One quarter of organizations (25.8%) will implement mobile applications, and 17.6% plan to

implement video conferencing.

Similar numbers of businesses will implement online meeting software and unied communications

(both 17.5%). The low current implementation rate of the latter technology (18.7%) plus the high

levels of implementation intention suggests it may be about to move mainstream.

For US IT executives, it is all about collaboration

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Communications


Mobile applications 25.8% 20.2%12.2%

Video-conferencing 17.6% 32.7%12.1%

Online meeting software 17.5% 35.1%11.5%

Unified communications 17.5% 18.7%12.8%

Telecoms contracts 17.1% 31.6%10.8%

Email messaging/spam filtering 16.6% 56.3%6.2%

Smartphones 16.1% 49.7%8.5%

IP telephony 15.1% 36.6%13.3%

Instant messaging 13.5% 35.5%6.9%

Wireless broadband 13.5% 47.9%7.4%

Mobile phones 12.5% 50.1%7.6%

Call center 6.8% 20.5%6.4%

PABX/telephony 5.8% 24.4%7.2%

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Hardware

Another technology going mainstream ast is tablet computers.

In business these will become common by the end o 2012, with

28.9% o businesses deploying in the next 12 months. Combined

with the 22.6% o organizations already using

tablets, it means around one hal o organizations

will be tablet users. The survey scope did not allow

or urther inquiry, so its not clear which people

within these organizations will receive the tablets,

nor what they will use them or. CBS Interactive will

execute urther research into this topical subject in

coming months.

Notebooks will continue to be business workhorses in many organizations (25.2% have notebook

implementations in the works over the next 12 months and 52.6% already use them). It will be

interesting to see whether businesses offer two devices to staff (a tablet and notebook), or a choice

of one or the other.

Alternative user devices such as netbooks (9.1% will deploy in 12 months) and thin clients (12.1%)

already appear to be moving into their twilights.

Around

one half of

organizations

will be tablet

users.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Hardware


Tablets 28.9% 22.6%16.3%

Laptops/notebooks 25.2% 52.6%9.4%

Desktop/workstations 24.1% 47.6%11.0%

LCD monitors 17.8% 54.6%6.3%

Multifunction printer/copier 14.3% 59.2%7.0%

Color printers 13.9% 55.0%6.0%

Thin client 12.1% 16.0%12.1%

Projectors 11.8% 43.0%6.7%

Black-and-white printers 11.2% 51.6%5.2%

Netbooks 9.1% 16.4%8.4%

Point-of-sales systems 7.3% 14.8%4.6%

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Services

IT training is by ar the highest priority or IT

service, support and management projects in

the next 12 months, as organizations look to

extract value rom investments in sta and

technologies. This obviously makes sense in

challenging economic conditions, especially

or organizations with at or declining budgets.

Respondents rate the remaining items in this

category as low priorities in comparison to other

technologies.

Second cab off the rank is asset management (19% will implement

within 12 months), followed by remote support (18.4%) and project

management (18.2%).

IT training is by

far the highest

priority for IT

service, support

and management

projects in the

next 12 months.

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

IT Services


IT training 30.9% 20.8%13.0%

Asset management 19.0% 29.6%9.6%

Remote support 18.4% 47.2%7.7%

Project management 18.2% 31.8%10.5%

IT recruitment 16.4% 14.8%9.1%

Managed services 15.4% 30.2%10.0%

Adoption of IT governance 15.2% 18.9%11.7%

Change management 15.0% 23.9%10.2%

Hosted software/services 14.9% 26.5%12.4%

IT consulting 14.6% 28.2%9.0%

Green IT programs and

energy-saving initiatives14.1% 11.6%15.4%

Outsourcing 8.9% 15.0%9.4%

Offshoring 4.6% 7.2%4.9%

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SurveyMethodology Introduction

In December 2011, CBS Interactive sent an invite to the online IT Priorities survey to our registered

members in the USA. These are IT leaders and IT professionals who regularly visit the ZDNet and

TechRepublic websites. CBS Interactive also promoted the survey through editorial coverage and

advertising on our websites. Participation in the survey was voluntary. The survey closed in January

2012.

Survey Methodology

When: December 2011 / January 2012

To Whom: The IT and business leaders and professionals who engage with CBS Interactive

(e.g. ZDNet, TechRepublic, etc.) in USA

Approach: Quantitative study, elded using online survey

Topics:

IT Budgets

IT Priorities

IT Challenges

Objectives of IT improvements

IT purchasing responsibility and vendor selection criteria

Intentions to implement technologies (SW and applications, networking and security,

communications, servers/storage/data center, hardware, IT service, support and

management

Now in its 2nd year in Asia Pacic, this is the rst CBS Interactive study of IT Priorities in USA




Respondent Organization Industry Sector and Size

Re

spondentDemo

graphics

Survey Methodology: Respondent Organizations

Organization size

(# Networked staff)

1 to 49

50 to 99

100 to 249

250 to 499

500 to 999

>1000

41%

11% 8%

7%

6%

27%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

IT & Technology 18.7%

Education 10.6%

Government 8.9%

Healthcare 8.1%

Business Services/Consulting 7.7%

Finance/Banking/Insurance 6.3%

Manufacturing (Industrial/Process) 5.8%

Retail & Wholesale 3.9%

Media/Publishing/Advertising 3.2%

Telecommunications 3.0%

Other 23.7%


44/44


Re

spondentDemo

graphics Respondent Job Functions and Responsibilities

Survey Methodology: Respondent Jobs/Decision-Making

Involvement in Approvals/purchases

Executive Level: 20% Other Levels:80%

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25%

Executive IS/IT Management 5.9%

Executive Management

Department Head/Director

Corporate-level/Senior

IT Department Manager

IT Consultant

Networking/LAN

IT Systems/Network Analyst

Technical/PC Support

IT Solutions/Systems Architect

Sales/Marketing/Business

IT Project Management

Education

Other IS/IT or Computer

Software/Applications

Other Management

Infrastructure

Other

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

86%

35%

75%

33%

70

%

32%

72%

31%

79%

35%

79%

34%

5.5%

4.4%

4.2%

11.4%

9.7%

6.1%

5.8%

4.0%

4.0%

3.8%

3.8%

3.0%

19.6%

2.7%

2.2%

1.9%

1.9%

2012 US IT Priorities

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