the need to step away from the screen is greater than ever

Transcription

1 the need to step away from the screen is greater than ever

2 Key findings include: IT Leaders most need to drive alignment between what their business sets as priority, where IT investments are made, and how their organization s success is defined - these are not aligned today. The struggle to find IT talent is spread across more types of roles than in the past - as IT adds services and technologies to their portfolio - and with little help from HR, developing their current team is difficult which leaves IT without the right level of Talent to do what is being asked of them by their customers. The relationship between Operations and IT has vastly increased over the last year - pointing to technology s key role in driving efficiencies and visibility into performance. WELCOME Greetings IT Leaders, Welcome to our Annual IT Leadership Survey Report. We ve made a few changes this year to reflect the maturing role of the information technology leader and the ever-evolving technology that drives how they lead. IT Leaders and their organizations are faced with endless demands on their time and resources, so it s critically important to focus on identifying and solving the big issues that really matter most to them and to their customers - but that is the problem. Alignment is the biggest challenge as the number and volume of voices vying for IT attention increase. This definitive benchmarking survey measures the business and leadership challenges of today s IT leader. Our survey covered questions around: role, organization, priorities and investments, collaboration, talent issues, security, emerging technology usage, and how their performance is measured. 1

3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY If the results of the 2017 IT Leadership Survey tell us anything, it is that the perennial misalignment between the business and IT remains the biggest challenge faced by IT leaders and their organizations. It s not all bad news. We found that leaders are focusing on the cloud and looking to invest in digital solutions specifically to increase customer engagement. They acknowledge talent deficits on their teams and are strengthening their partnership with HR to solve the impact on IT. More than half of our survey respondents said there is pressure to play the role of innovator, advisor, service provider and strategist all at the same time. But despite the strategic aspects expected in their role, when it comes to how the business measures success, measurement is clearly focused on the tactical. To a degree, IT organizations are stuck in a rut of keeping the lights on. Overall, their hands are tied by key influences on their work. The business is mandating priorities that keep them focused on operational efficiencies. Their investment priorities are centered on recurrent issues like legacy and core modernization. There is a lack of a strategy to address talent deficits on their own teams. There are also conflicting desires when it comes to customer engagement. On one hand, it s cited as a growing area of engagement, yet for the business, it isn t a success measure, nor a top mandated priority. As a matter of fact, prioritizing the customer has fallen by 33% from last year s survey. We know that finding a strategy to overcome talent deficits is a core challenge. More than a third of the survey focused on this issue. With HR facing their own internal talent deficits, IT will have to find a way to bridge that gap between the two organizations. All business leaders are challenged to decipher many voices competing for their daily, sometimes hourly attention. Often, a third voice is the best compass to guide through the noise. And who better to share ideas and find an empathetic voice than their own peers. We hope this year s survey results serve as a forum for empathy and ideas for IT leaders to step away from the screen, learn from each other, align with their organization, and move forward. 2

4 table of contents 10 4 Section 1: Role, Priorities & Investment -Indicators of Misalignment Section 2: IT Organizations -Impact of Misalignment on Talent 17 Section 3: IT Customers -Aligning Engagement and Success Section 5: What is Going Well -Security Section 4: IT Solutions -Using Technology to Drive Alignment Section 6: About Us 31 3

5 SECTION 1 Role, Priorities & Investment -indicators of misalignment 4

6 How do you categorize yourself based on your responsibilities? 60% Head of IT 26% BOTH 13% Head of Security 5

7 What role in the business are you most being asked to perform? 4% 8% 13% 21% 54% Innovator Strategist Advisor Service Provider All Of the Across 6

8 Please Rank Your Current Level of Investment In Each of the Following Technology Areas 14% Outsourcing 14% Cloud 9% Analytics & BI 4% Digital % Legacy Core Modernization 23% Data Center & Data Management 18% Cyber Security 11% Digital 3% 9% Outsourcing 11% Data Center & Data Management 11% Cyber Security Emerging Technologies % Cloud 23% Legacy Core Modernization 17% Analytics & BI 7

9 What Are Your Top 5 Mandated Business Priorities? 38% 27% 27% 26% 18% $ Driving Revenue Growth Managing Operational Risk and Compliance Delivering Consistent and Stable IT performance to the Business Increasing operational efficiencies Improve organizational performance 8

10 Role, Priorities & Investments Indicators of misalignment Key Take aways With 38% of respondents saying that Driving Revenue Growth is a top mandated business priority, the disconnect between IT and the business will be difficult to overcome until technology investments focus less on legacy core modernization and more on emerging technologies and business intelligence. Respondents stated that investments in Cloud, Outsourcing, and Data Center Management are being made to free up share of time and share of mind so that they can focus on Business Growth. Many IT Leaders talk about having a seat at the table with their C-suite peers in decision making and strategy. Respondents echoed that, while they now have that seat, their desire to have more of an Innovator and Strategist voice is imperative if they are expected to Drive Revenue Growth (the top mandated business priority). Relative investment in the Cloud stayed the same across 2016 and Our IT Leaders share that in the next 18 months, they largely plan to stay where they are in regards to cloud adoption with some movement in migrating productivity tools and migrating new users onto existing cloud applications. As such, respondents indicated that they are waiting for the next round of Cloud innovation that will enable them to move more complex and proprietary applications off-prem and into the sky. 9

11 SECTION 2 IT Organizations -Impact of Misalignment and talent 10

12 Do you expect to grow your IT staff in the next year? If yes, by how much? No 35% More Than 30%- 25%- 10%- 5% 5% 9% YES 65% 5%- 57% 11

13 From a Talent perspective, where are you facing a technology skill deficit on your team? 72% % 40% 29% Data & Analytics Security Project Management Business Translation Services 8% 26% Change Management 24% Change Management 22% 29% Development Support 0% % 52% NEW Cloud Computing Mobile Development Infrastructure IT Operations 17% Quality Assurance 13% 22% 22% Software Engineering 13% 35% 12

14 What Are the Hurdles in Developing A High-Performing Team? 36% 27% 23% 18% September S m T W TH F S $ $ $ Finding the Right Person at the Right Time Not Having The Right Recruiting Process Lack of Aptitude of Softer Skills Lack of Professional Budget or Time 23% 23% 32% 9% No Time To Develop Internal Talent Ineffective Organizational Structure Technical Apititude No Clear Definition of Roles 13

15 What are your plans to overcome the hurdles in developing a high-performing team? REDUCE OUTSOURCING IN ORDER TO INCREASE ENTRY LEVEL POSITIONS. Upgrade systems/ technologies to a more modern/evergreen architecture that will attract top talent. USE OF MANAGED SERVICES, SLOWLY ADD STAFF AND MAKE TIME TO TRAIN. Make training and education a requirement. RESTRUCTURING IT FUNCTION AND CLARIFYING ROLE DEFINITIONS. We will be developing regional technology centers to focus on global locations where talent exists. Formalize external training opportunities. Recruiting outside our geographic area. BREAKING DOWN SILOS Leverage external 3rd party recruiters more effectively. 14

16 What is your organizational structure? 35% By Functional Area of the Business 43% HYBRID 9% 4% By TECHNOLOGY 8% TYPE By OBJECTIVE OTHER 15

17 IT Organizations impact of misalignment andtalent Key Take aways There is a large opportunity for HR and IT to work together on the development of the IT Team. With IT Leaders already reporting major Talent Gaps in the marketplace that negatively impact recruiting efforts and large hurdles in developing existing talent, this is the perfect opportunity for HR. The top three hurdles that IT reports in developing their teams are (respectively) Finding the Right Person at the Right Time, No Time to Develop Internal Talent, and Not Having the Right Recruiting Process. This disconnect has real implications on the business when IT reports their top skill gap as being Data Analytics a key to doing what their customers are asking of them: Driving Revenue Growth. The challenges around developing a high-performing team will become more complex as new IT staff is added (65% of respondents reported plans to grow their team) and as their organizational model becomes more of a Hybrid structure creating developmental, career pathing, and succession planning difficulty. Without help from HR, IT Leaders are turning to the outside with a few key strategies: Outsource work to free-up time for development Look externally for pre-packaged development opportunities/training Leverage recruiters outside of the area to bring talent in 16

18 SECTION 3 IT Customers -Aligning Engagement and Success 17

19 In What areas of the business is your engagement,collaboration & investment Growing? 70% 54% 25% 29% 37.5% 37.5% 41% Products Logistics Products Marketing HR & Finance Customer Service Sales Operations 18

20 HOW IS YOUR SUCCESS MEASURED BY THE BUSINESS? 13% 9% 52% 17% $ No Current Measurements in Place 4% Innovative Solutions that Are Diverse in the Market place 4% Enabling Efficient Operation Cost Control Customer Service Other 19

21 it customers aligning engagement and success Key Take aways One piece of alignment, according to respondents is around the increasing engagement with Operations and the measurement of IT s success most defined by Enabling Efficient Operation. Respondents shared that they are encouraged by their growing engagement, collaboration, and investment with Sales and predict that this will be a major category of investment in the next year. As engagement with Sales continues to grow, alignment on how to measure IT s success in Driving Revenue Growth (not currently measured by any respondent) will be vital to justifying continued investment. Overall low percentages in how success is measured by the business points to an overall opportunity for IT to proactively share information about what they do to drive company success. This is especially true when the business is asking IT leaders to perform multiple roles, including Innovator and Strategist, but current success measurements are tactical. 20

22 SECTION 4 it solutions -using technology to drive alignment 21

23 What is the largest driver of digital focus and investment? 48% 9% 14% 19% 24% Reduced Time to Market Employee Enablement Competitive Pressures /Differentiators Increased Insight, Analytics & Reduction of Operations Cost Increased Customer Expectations and Engagement 22

24 What Are The Hurdles to digital Adoption? 62% 19% 5% * * * required required required 33% 14% Culture Averse to Change Data Quality cesses e n e i e! c f i i en ni i n c e 23

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26 What Have Been the Barriers To Migrating To the Cloud? 47% 35% 35% 41% 23% 35% Lack of Executive Support Regulatory Issues Inabilty to Capitalize Organizational Capabilities Privacy & Security 25

27 the cloud - today and tomorrow What data stays on the premises and what goes into the cloud? ON PREM NPI IPII Business Critical and Proprietary ERP CRM CLOUD Customer-Facing Applications Same place/ No Change/ Hybrid Cloud Where do you want to be in the cloud 18 months from now? Focus on User Productivity Tools Focus on Data Center and Infrastructure (Backups) Focus on the Same Cloud Applications with the Users Migrating Large, Key Business Applications (HR,ERP) 37% 21% 15% 15% 10% 26

28 it solutions using technology to drive alignment Key Take aways Increased customer expectations are driving the digital investments of our region s IT Organizations. In order to give customers what they want, however, our IT teams have to get out of their own way. They have to change their culture to be more nimble, flexible, and willing to accept change. IT Leaders reported that the value of migrating to the Cloud is real. Realized benefits of the Cloud are Flexibility, Speed and Scale; Keeping software current; Cost Savings. IT Leaders also reported that they are realizing additional benefits postcloud implementation. Pleasant surprises included freeing up internal teams to spend more time on innovation; Allowing for greater focus on value add ; and an increase in Development and Test productivity. 27

29 SECTION 5 What is going well -Security 28

30 What IS YOUR BIGGEST SECURITY FOCUS OR CONCERN? 43% 38% 24% 76%? How to handle a plan/breach when it happens 43% Unpatched and Patchable Devices 33% Mobile Devices 19% Your People Data Third-party Service Providers Cloud Applications 29

31 what is going well security Key Take aways While no IT Security professional would ever count the area of Security as ultimately being won, the investment in Security technologies and Security Talent is making a difference. IT Leaders shared that while they are constantly on-guard against ever-evolving threats, they have improved their ability to be more proactive in fighting off threats and quicker to react and minimize impact when threats are realized. It seems that more attention in the coming year will be focused on the people aspect of security, with our region s IT Professionals focusing on Behaviors, Awareness, and Education as keys to reducing their people s impact on security. 30

32 about us BusinessForward We frequently find ourselves meeting technology leaders in the thick of their time and place of need. They ask for our thoughts and perspective as well as the thoughts and perspectives of others and their peer group. In 2016, we realized that pulling together a CIO survey was in order, to capture trends, challenges and opportunities they faced. This year we amended the survey to reflect the diversity of titles, so that our research would benefit IT leaders filling a range of roles. We encourage you to use this Report to educate your stakeholders about why you make the decisions you make and about what others are facing. You don t stand alone. Showing what your peers are doing is a great way to demonstrate how you differentiate your company with technology. We realize that the complexity of your job and the impact on your companies and on the lives of your employees is greater than any infographic can represent. This Report is intended as a starting point to get you thinking about where you might make the greatest change to transform your IT organization. We encourage you to step out from behind the screen and call us, because even as technologists, nothing can replace a real conversation. At BusinessForward, we understand the disconnect between IT and the business, specifically when a misalignment of priorities impacts your organization. Since 2006 our experts have delivered solutions rooted in empathy to reach your transformational goals. Consulting with empathy is what we do. It s our ability to make your problems our problems, because we ve been in your shoes. We ll get right to the point by helping you fix what s slowing you down, tripping up your team and preventing your organization from performing at the highest level. Visit us at to learn more. Ready to get to work aligning IT and the business? Contact John Huckle, Founder & CEO at jhuckle@businessforward.com. Pittsburgh Technology Council The Pittsburgh Technology Council can help your tech company succeed through a proven platform of Business Development, Talent Retention, Government Relations and Visibility Services. Companies at all growth stages use the Pittsburgh Technology Council to build new business, connect to capital, grow a workforce and make headlines. Who We Are More than 1,300 strong, Pittsburgh Technology Council members cut across Pittsburgh s tech sector from hardware and IT to Life Sciences and Application developers. Add in leading-edge professional service firms and the PTC is the largest regional IT trade association in the nation. We are the voice of Pittsburgh s thriving technology industry. Not a member? Contact Jennifer Young at jyoung@pghtech.org to find out how to join today. 31