IT Execs Boost Focus on Business in 2007

Emphasis Reflects Beginning of Shift to Business Technology

By No Analyst or Consultant

November 30, 2006 — CSO —

By Laurie M. Orlov with Alex Cullen and Bo Belanger

Business relationships trump technology concerns for IT execs in 2007, despite unfinished or vexing technical tasks, based on a recent survey of 239 IT executives. These respondents picked the long-standing issues of alignment, governance and communicating value as their top concerns. Below these, but still important, were cross-unit business initiatives, migration to shared services, and the exploration of business process management (BPM) technologies as a way to formalize the management of business processes. These areas of concern highlight the growing realization among CIOs that while technology prowess and depth are critical for their organizations, they must help the business units of their enterprise achieve still-elusive efficiencies from technology.

Connecting to Business, Improving Perception

In an August 2006 survey of 239 IT executives, we included a question about focus in 2007 and requested that they select their top priorities from a list of 16 choices.

When asked about priorities for 2007, 50 percent of the respondents said that improving and demonstrating IT/business strategy alignment was one of their top three priorities. The good news is that progress is detectable. Between 2005 and 2006, Forrester's IT governance data reflected a significant jump—from 52 percent to 71 percent—in respondents who indicated that business and IT collaborate equally in setting IT direction.

Thirty-six percent of respondents noted that IT governance was top of mind, making it number two on our list. And 34 percent of executives placed the prioritization of tech investments near the top of their priority list. The issues? These IT organizations have yet to form a steering committee with the right stakeholder representation or, if they do have a steering committee, its purpose is unclear. And if they do have some form of steering committee, they may not have a means of valuing and ranking investments.

Thirty-five percent of respondents identified marketing and communicating IT value as one of their top priorities for 2007. The good news? In Forrester's recent IT governance survey, 45 percent of 451 responding IT organizations report improvement in perception—they are viewed more positively than a year ago. When asked how they managed this, two key approaches they cited were improving the reliability of their infrastructure and better communicating IT's value and success to the rest of the company.

Key Factors That Contribute to a More Positive View of IT

What else is on the minds of IT executives for 2007? A notable number were working to increase business efficiency and lower those costs that may have ballooned during years of mergers and acquisitions, the decentralization of IT and data centers, and the difficult task of changing app-dependent processes to match demands of business peers. Additional items on their list included:

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