Cloud computing has been identified as the top priority for CIOs in 2011, according to Gartner.
The research company says this finding is based on its 2011 CIO Agenda survey. “CIOs report that their organisations are emphasising growth, in addition to continued vigilance on cost and operational efficiencies.”
The worldwide survey was conducted from September to December and represents CIO budget plans reported at that time. It includes responses from 2 014 CIOs, representing over $160 billion in corporate and public-sector IT spending across 50 countries and 38 industries, says Gartner.
Delayed implementation
CIOs expect to adopt new cloud services much faster than originally expected, says the company.
It adds that, currently, 3% of CIOs have the majority of IT running in the cloud or on software as a service (SaaS) technologies, but over the next four years CIOs expect this number to increase to 43%.
“Although EMEA [Europe, Middle East and Africa] CIOs report similar business priorities, the survey found that efficiency and consolidation are of higher priority in Europe.”
SA's Government IT Officers Council (Gitoc) plans to complete a cloud computing strategy for government within this year, according to chairman Julius Segole.
The migration is expected to save billions of rands of taxpayers' money and improve service delivery.
However, Segole says migration will not be quick, because - in order to have some traction - government will need broader consensus on which applications go to the cloud, who funds the cloud, and the governance of the cloud, including security.
He adds that the investment required to build cloud computing platforms is one of the biggest challenges blocking implementation.
Budget optimisation
"CIOs and IT have been boxed in between modest budget growth and growing legacy requirements," says Mark McDonald, group VP and head of research for Gartner executive programs.
He adds that resource realities indicated in the survey raise the urgency and importance of adopting new infrastructure and operations technologies, such as cloud services and virtualisation.
"These technologies were selected by CIOs the most often and are the top-two technologies for 2011 and are well-suited for this budget reality, as they offer similar service levels at lower budget costs."
CIOs' IT budget projections for 2011 are globally flat, according to the survey, with an average budget increase of 1%.
Success cycle
Until recently, the average IT organisation dedicated 66% of its budget to day-to-day operations, leaving little room for transformation of business strategy, says Gartner.
“CIOs see the introduction of Internet service-based technologies as changing that equation and releasing between 35% to 50% of infrastructure and operational resources for innovation and growth. This is creating a new CIO success cycle, one based on creating and realising new sources of value, in addition to cost-effective IT operations.”
McDonald says CIOs expect dramatic changes in IT as they adopt new technologies and raise their contribution to competitive advantage over the next five years.
"Leaders will implement new infrastructure technologies to achieve increased efficiency and to redirect IT resources to create greater business impact. “
A ranking of business strategies reported by CIOs in the survey indicates that growth is a core expectation for 2011 and beyond.
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