IT Spending Will Focus on Business Intelligence and the Cloud in 2012
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IT leaders will be spending their money on new business-intelligence services, cloud computing and mobile applications in 2012, new research shows.
The Society for Information Management(SIM) recently released results of its 2011 SIM IT Industry Trends Survey, which shows business-intelligence services top the list of priorities for IT leaders' 2012 cash. But two new categories, mobile and wireless applicationsand customer-relationship management, also made the top five for the first time.
"They reflect the growing impact of supporting 'Bring Your Own Technology' services, along with the need for supporting business growth during tough economic times, where customer loyalty and capturing revenue become mission-critical in every part of a corporation," Jerry Luftman, distinguished professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology and Global Institute for IT Management, who has overseen the SIM survey for more than a decade, said of the new categories.
Despite economic uncertainty, more than half of the IT leaderssurveyed are projecting budget increases in 2012, with another third anticipating comparable spending levels.
The spending isn't just on equipment, as more than two-thirds of those surveyed plan to raise staff salariesfor the second year in a row.
Better aligning the IT department with the rest of the company is the biggest concern IT leaders face in 2012, according to the study.
Other issues of top priority include:
- Business agility and speed to market
- Business-process management and reengineering
- Business productivity and cost reduction
- IT strategic planning
- IT reliability and efficiency
- Enterprise architecture/infrastructure capability
- Security and privacy
- Revenue-generating IT innovations
- IT cost reduction
The SIM IT Industry Trends Survey is an industry benchmark for IT executives in areas including spending, salaries, job scope of IT professionals and technical/business trends. Since the survey was first conducted in 1980, the research has expanded to reach beyond the United States into dollarpe, Asia and Latin America. This year's study included surveys of nearly 300 IT decision-makers from 19 different industries.
