The majority of IT teams are being pushed to implement new services and systems despite a drop in resources, new research has claimed.
A survey from Apptio has found that nearly two-thirds of IT leaders (63%) were being asked to implement new services and computing capabilities.
The study found 72% of CIOs say the disruption caused by COVID-19 has changed their business priorities, with organisations having shifted from prioritising operational excellence and revenue growth to reducing IT spend. This is particularly the case in the healthcare sector, where two-thirds of healthcare organisations reported that optimising costs is now the number one priority.
This is despite the coronavirus pandemic leading to increased pressure on organisational budgets as a whole, with IT often bearing the brunt of cuts. The pressures were especially high in the under-pressure healthcare sector, where 93% of respondents were being told to lower their IT spend.
All these factors are ramping up the pressure on CIOs and other IT leaders, who are now facing a need to make faster business decisions than ever before. Apptio found that three out of four CIOs say the ability to rapidly re-plan has become a critical capability during the pandemic – however nearly four in ten (39%) of organisations have a quarterly forecast cadence, meaning any significant changes may need to wait for several months in order to be ratified.
“Leaders are facing some of the most difficult decisions of their careers. We are seeing organizations from all industries impacted, some harder than others. In all cases, these organizations have had to look at how technology will enable them to come out of this disruption stronger than when they went in,” said Jarod Greene, GM of the Technology Business Management Council.
“But they have to balance the need to manage costs and accelerate innovation, particularly in an environment where cash is king and plans can change on a daily basis. With financial management software, organizations can automate these processes, surface insights they would not have otherwise found in their data and make collaborative, informed decisions that take into account the business impact of their choices.”
