Almost two-thirds of IT decision-makers rank automation and efficiency as the main drivers of IT in 2007.
A recent survey of IT decision-makers, undertaken at BMC Software's annual forum in Johannesburg, indicated customer service - at 57% - is the third-ranking priority for this year.
This is followed - at 51% - by the need to maximise current IT infrastructure and manage change (49%).
Retention of key staff was listed by 47% of respondents as a priority, highlighting the need for skilled staff to manage IT technologies and processes, said a statement issued by the software firm.
"Reducing costs was a priority for 43% of respondents. Surprisingly, improving return on investment came in at only 34%, with corporate governance and compliance at a low 28%," it said.
In contrast to European markets where environment-friendly technology is becoming a major concern, "green computing" attracted only 6% of local attention, it reported.
Governance issues
In other key findings, three-quarters of the forum respondents said they plan to implement a configuration management database in the next six months, and 76% said they have an IT Infrastructure Library strategy in place.
BMC Software country manager Arjen Wiersma, commenting on the results, said unmanaged change resulted in IT failures. "Analyst research points to 80% of IT failures being caused by people or process failure or, more accurately, by unmanaged change."
He said the company, and its partners, were positioned to help businesses "leverage their existing IT investments by delivering and implementing BSM solutions that map to IT priorities for 2007".
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