By Kirsten Wade
CIOs in Australia and New Zealand consider governance, compliance, regulation and security as the biggest barriers to IT, above lack of IT budget and resources, according to the Gartner Executive Programs 2012 CIO Agenda survey.
The top three technology priorities for local CIOs are mobile technologies, analytics and business intelligence, and cloud computing.
“Unlike the rest of the world, local CIOs seem more concerned with governance than money when it comes to delivering value from IT,” said Andy Rowsell-Jones, vice president at Gartner. “This is in part to do with having more money to spend than global counterparts, but they are also under pressure to use it wisely.”
CIOs in Australia and New Zealand reported an average budget increase of 1.3 per cent across 2011. This is an increase from the nominal 0.5 per cent worldwide average increase.
“It is positive to note that half the CIOs in Australia and New Zealand are experiencing budget increases in 2012,” Rowsell-Jones said. “Even growth of 1.3 per cent is significant, which is enough to knock IT cost reductions from the number two CIO strategy worldwide, down to number seven locally.”
The business priorities list revealed a focus on customers, with the top three being attracting and retaining new customers, increasing enterprise growth and reducing enterprise costs.
“Despite the doom and gloom, there continues to be nuggets of good news in the survey data: not least they show enterprises haven’t given up; they are still fighting for new customers and revenue opportunities,” Rowsell-Jones said.
The survey of 2336 CIOs worldwide, including 132 from Australia and New Zealand, was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2011 and represents CIO budget plans.
