Gartner Survey of Australian/NZ CIOs Shows IT Budgets to Increase by 3.6 Percent in 2005, higher than the global average
Announcement posted by Gartner 19 Jan 2005
Focus on business processes and business intelligence to move IT from commodity to business contribution
Australian and New Zealand Chief Information Officers (CIOs) expect IT budgets to increase by 3.6 percent in 2005, a faster rate of growth than last year (1.2 percent) and a higher rate of growth than the 2005 global average of 2.5 percent.
This is in contrast to last year, when the rest of the world enjoyed budget increases of 1.4% and Australia/New Zealand saw just 1.2% increase.
According to the global CIO survey by Gartner Executive Programs (EXP), a unit of Gartner Inc, Australia/New Zealand CIOs, like their colleagues in the rest of the world, say their focus will be on supporting business growth and delivering results. They also voiced concerns about their relationship with the CEO and whether they have the right people to meet current and future business needs.
VP and research director for Gartner EXP, Andrew Rowsell-Jones says, In Australia and New Zealand, CIOs are as focused as their overseas counterparts on improving the efficiency of their enterprise but are alsomore concerned about enterprise risk.
As to why Australian CIOs are more concerned about enterprise risk than their overseas counterparts, Rowsell-Jones believes it to be tied closely to IT governance.
Governance has always been a much more important issue here. In America or Europe there are various governance compliance requirementssuch as Sarbanes-Oxleywhich have provided the rule book to play by. But if youre a CIO in Australia/New Zealand, the rules keep changing, keeping governance a top of mind issue.
Notable by its absence in the Australian top 10 business priorities is the need for revenue growth. Overseas CIOs rated this their sixth priority,yet it doesnt rank anywhere in the top 10 priorities here. One explanation for this is that contributing to revenue growth still isnt seen to bethe role of the CIO here, says Rowsell-Jones. Maybe CIOs are still seen as technologists, rather than business leaders.
Overseas CIOs carry the business growth theme across to their top 10 CIO strategic management priorities delivering projects that enable business growth is rated number one.
In contrast, Australia/New Zealand CIOs rated their top strategic priorities as consolidating the IT organisation and operations, and improving IT governance.
It should not be a surprise that that Australia/New Zealand CIOs rate consolidating the IT organisation and operations as the number one strategic priority," says Rowsell-Jones.For public sector CIOs here in Australia/New Zealand, the move to shared services is a well reported hot topic. For private sector CIOs, there is pressure to improve operational efficiency of the IT organisation, which is causing them to consider centralisation. But there is a second reason. For some Australia/New Zealand private sector CIOs, consolidation can also mean their role is integrated into a larger operation overseas.
No matter what its cause, centralisation places a greater emphasis on the need for good leadership, which explains its high ranking among Australia/New Zealand CIOs in the survey. For CIOs to thrive they must be leaders.
Australia and New Zealand CIOs have similar technology priorities to CIOs in the rest of the world. Business intelligence and security enhancement tools are ranked highly by both camps. Infrastructure integration tools - for example workflow management and business process tools - are a higher priority for Australia and New Zealand CIOs.
Infrastructure integration might be unglamorous, but Rowsell-Jones believes the fact that it ranks highly here shows a typical Australian/New Zealand dogged determination to keep working until the job is done.
Additional information is available in the Gartner EXP report: Delivering ITs Contribution: The 2005 CIO Agenda. The survey findings includes responses from more than 1,300 CIOs covering more than 30 countries around the world representing $57 billion in IT spending. It is the largest of its kind. Industry sectors include manufacturing 21 percent, financial services 19 percent, public sector 18 percent, consumer products and services 9 percent, professional services 7 percent, high tech and communications 5 percent, utilities and chemicals 7 percent, healthcare and pharmaceuticals 4 percent, education 4 percent and other 4 percent.
About Gartner EXP
Gartner Executive Programs (EXP) is a membership-based organization of more than 1,900 CIOs worldwide. Members benefit from the convenience of a single source of knowledge, one-to-one counsel, personalized service, the shared knowledge of the world's largest community of CIOs and the assurance of Gartner objectivity and insight. Additional information about Gartner EXP can be found on the Gartner Web site at www.gartner.com/exp.
About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. is the leading provider of research and analysis on the global information technology industry. Gartner serves more than 10,000 clients, including chief information officers and other senior IT executives in corporations and government agencies, as well as technology companies and the investment community. The Company focuses on delivering objective, in-depth analysis and actionable advice to enable clients to make more informed business and technology decisions. The Company's businesses consist of Gartner Intelligence, research and events for IT professionals; Gartner Executive Programs, membership programs and peer networking services; and Gartner Consulting, customised engagements with a specific emphasis on outsourcing and IT management. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and has more than 3,500 associates, and including more than 1,000 research analysts and consultants, in more than 75 locations worldwide. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.
This is in contrast to last year, when the rest of the world enjoyed budget increases of 1.4% and Australia/New Zealand saw just 1.2% increase.
According to the global CIO survey by Gartner Executive Programs (EXP), a unit of Gartner Inc, Australia/New Zealand CIOs, like their colleagues in the rest of the world, say their focus will be on supporting business growth and delivering results. They also voiced concerns about their relationship with the CEO and whether they have the right people to meet current and future business needs.
VP and research director for Gartner EXP, Andrew Rowsell-Jones says, In Australia and New Zealand, CIOs are as focused as their overseas counterparts on improving the efficiency of their enterprise but are alsomore concerned about enterprise risk.
As to why Australian CIOs are more concerned about enterprise risk than their overseas counterparts, Rowsell-Jones believes it to be tied closely to IT governance.
Governance has always been a much more important issue here. In America or Europe there are various governance compliance requirementssuch as Sarbanes-Oxleywhich have provided the rule book to play by. But if youre a CIO in Australia/New Zealand, the rules keep changing, keeping governance a top of mind issue.
Notable by its absence in the Australian top 10 business priorities is the need for revenue growth. Overseas CIOs rated this their sixth priority,yet it doesnt rank anywhere in the top 10 priorities here. One explanation for this is that contributing to revenue growth still isnt seen to bethe role of the CIO here, says Rowsell-Jones. Maybe CIOs are still seen as technologists, rather than business leaders.
Overseas CIOs carry the business growth theme across to their top 10 CIO strategic management priorities delivering projects that enable business growth is rated number one.
In contrast, Australia/New Zealand CIOs rated their top strategic priorities as consolidating the IT organisation and operations, and improving IT governance.
It should not be a surprise that that Australia/New Zealand CIOs rate consolidating the IT organisation and operations as the number one strategic priority," says Rowsell-Jones.For public sector CIOs here in Australia/New Zealand, the move to shared services is a well reported hot topic. For private sector CIOs, there is pressure to improve operational efficiency of the IT organisation, which is causing them to consider centralisation. But there is a second reason. For some Australia/New Zealand private sector CIOs, consolidation can also mean their role is integrated into a larger operation overseas.
No matter what its cause, centralisation places a greater emphasis on the need for good leadership, which explains its high ranking among Australia/New Zealand CIOs in the survey. For CIOs to thrive they must be leaders.
Australia and New Zealand CIOs have similar technology priorities to CIOs in the rest of the world. Business intelligence and security enhancement tools are ranked highly by both camps. Infrastructure integration tools - for example workflow management and business process tools - are a higher priority for Australia and New Zealand CIOs.
Infrastructure integration might be unglamorous, but Rowsell-Jones believes the fact that it ranks highly here shows a typical Australian/New Zealand dogged determination to keep working until the job is done.
Additional information is available in the Gartner EXP report: Delivering ITs Contribution: The 2005 CIO Agenda. The survey findings includes responses from more than 1,300 CIOs covering more than 30 countries around the world representing $57 billion in IT spending. It is the largest of its kind. Industry sectors include manufacturing 21 percent, financial services 19 percent, public sector 18 percent, consumer products and services 9 percent, professional services 7 percent, high tech and communications 5 percent, utilities and chemicals 7 percent, healthcare and pharmaceuticals 4 percent, education 4 percent and other 4 percent.
About Gartner EXP
Gartner Executive Programs (EXP) is a membership-based organization of more than 1,900 CIOs worldwide. Members benefit from the convenience of a single source of knowledge, one-to-one counsel, personalized service, the shared knowledge of the world's largest community of CIOs and the assurance of Gartner objectivity and insight. Additional information about Gartner EXP can be found on the Gartner Web site at www.gartner.com/exp.
About Gartner
Gartner, Inc. is the leading provider of research and analysis on the global information technology industry. Gartner serves more than 10,000 clients, including chief information officers and other senior IT executives in corporations and government agencies, as well as technology companies and the investment community. The Company focuses on delivering objective, in-depth analysis and actionable advice to enable clients to make more informed business and technology decisions. The Company's businesses consist of Gartner Intelligence, research and events for IT professionals; Gartner Executive Programs, membership programs and peer networking services; and Gartner Consulting, customised engagements with a specific emphasis on outsourcing and IT management. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and has more than 3,500 associates, and including more than 1,000 research analysts and consultants, in more than 75 locations worldwide. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.