The year ahead is likely to bring an upheaval in the IT workforce model and an average 6.8% increase in the workload for IT teams, according to new research carried out by The Hackett Group.
Speaking ahead of a webinar to outline IT trends for the year ahead, Vikrant R Rao, segment marketing specialist at Freshworks, said a new study into the CIO agenda for 2021 had found that profound upheavals lie ahead for the traditional IT operating model.
“We expect to see around one-third of IT functions making major operating model changes in 2021, with more third parties coming into the mix, and IT taking on a more important role as a strategic advisor to the business,” he says.
Digital transformation is expected to accelerate, budget cuts and freezes will make cost efficiency an even bigger priority than it was in the past, and the ongoing shortage of appropriate skills is likely to drive remote talent sourcing from around the globe this year.
Meeting the increasing demands of a difficult year ahead will require change within the IT organisation, the Hackett Group report says.
“IT has focused on enterprise transformation at the cost of their internal transformation. In fact, our research shows only a small proportion of IT organisations have been working to transform themselves for more than two years, which puts most at a disadvantage when it comes to meeting the rapidly changing needs of their businesses,” says Rao. “Management expectations may exceed IT’s ability to deliver, unless IT changes its operating model and optimises its resources.”
The study predicts rapid digitisation, more investment in self service enablement, and significant ‘housework’ – including consolidating, decommissioning, harmonising and upgrading infrastructure – to support the added challenges IT will face in 2021.
Freshworks, in partnership with ITWeb, will host a webinar on 28 January to unpack the research findings, outline the key trends and top priorities for CIOs this year. Freshworks experts will analyse results from the Hackett Group's study, assessing the most important IT objectives for 2021, and the most common hurdles to IT transformation. For more information and to register for this event, click here.
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