Abstract
This IDC study presents further results from IDC' s Forecast for
Management Survey, 2009. CIOs believe the situation was difficult enough
when they had to deal with an onslaught of disruptive
technologies transforming IT (e.g., service-oriented architecture [SOA], software as a
service [SaaS], convergence, and Web 2.0). Now, that transformation is
taking place in an economic pressure cooker. Whilst we used
to talk about using IT as a tool for business
transformation, that business transformation was generally considered voluntary. Now, thanks
to the global economic crisis, there is business transformation whether
CIOs like it or not. This report explores the current
challenges faced by CIOs, and key business or organisational issues
emerging from these challenges.
"Not surprisingly, cost reduction is cited as
the biggest challenge faced by CIOs in ANZ as the
global financial turmoil has dealt a major headache to businesses,
with 27.6% of CIOs stating this as their biggest challenge.
In today' s business world, CIOs must provide improvements in performance
and functionality whilst keeping costs low. The recruitment and retaining
of skilled staff is ranked as the second most challenging
factor at 10.3%, as organisations that trim down and consolidate
job functions are in the market to poach for the
top minds and skills available in the market, and also
in an anticipation of an upswing in the economy. In
fact, recruiting and retaining skilled staff has moved from 9th
position into 2nd position in the last five years. This
is a significant rise in terms of challenges for Australian
CIOs. This certainly correlates with another challenge that has risen
into the top 10: IT staff skills development," says Melissa
Martin, senior market analyst, IDC Australia.
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