by Lisa Banks

CIOs still perfecting business intelligence in 2011: Gartner

News
Jan 28, 2011
Business IntelligenceCareersERP Systems

Increasing enterprise growth, reducing costs and attracting new customers are the three main areas CIOs are focusing on in 2011, according to analyst firm Gartner.

Speaking at a local analyst briefing in Sydney, Gartner distinguished analyst, John Roberts, shared the results of the 2011 CIO Agenda research, which is based on the responses of some 2000 CIOs worldwide.

Roberts said CIOs are clearly focused on the growth of their business, with the wish for greater business intelligence remaining high for CIOs.

“Business intelligence is appearing fairly rapidly, and it’s been number one for several years,” Roberts said.

“Now does everyone work for an intelligent business where everyone in your organisation has exactly the right information in the right format in the right time to make the possible question?

“I ask people in business processes that question and most of the time the answer I get is ‘no’.”

Roberts said CIOs may be becoming complacent and need to find new opportunities to innovate in the IT space.

“We’ve digitised more and more of our business processes across our organisation, but still I want you to say there are great opportunities to look for the white space,” he said.

“ … We have an opportunity to change business models thanks to the technologies that we have today.”

Finding new opportunities to create greater business value will be vital, according to Roberts, who said Gartner’s predictions indicate that CIOs could be personally impacted if they cannot deliver.

“By 2015 your compensation or your bonus will be dependent upon that new value creation,” he said.

With the stakes being raised even higher for CIOs, Roberts said IT leaders are being put in a difficult position of needing to take risks in a time of uncertainty.

“It’s going to be all about risk and placing your bets in a very uncertain world to move forward,” Roberts said. “Reaching that decision point will be something that will impact a lot of people’s minds over the next year or two.”

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