Security, business intelligence (BI), big data and developing staff skills have been deemed critical by many Australian CIOs for the financial year 2012-13 according to analyst firm Telsyte. In a Top Priorities 2012-13 survey of more than 800 Australian CIOs and IT decision makers conducted in November 2011, security was cited as a top priority by 21 per cent of respondents. BI, including big data, and skills development were also seen as critical priorities by 11 and 10 per cent of CIOs surveyed, respectively. In addition, 36 per cent of CIOs rated security as a very important priority while 34 per cent indicated skills development as important. Google Apps growing in popularity amongst CIOs:Telsyte Network security in the BYOD era Social engineering, big data top security priorities for 2013: Gartner In addition, the report found that the emerging trend of mobility now outranks ICT spending reduction with 9 per cent of CIOs viewing mobility as a critical IT business priority and 28 per cent rating it as very important. ICT spending reduction was critical for only 8 per cent of the 800 CIOs surveyed while 23 per cent cited it as very important. According to Telsyte senior analyst and CIO program lead, Rodney Gedda, IT leaders have often rated security, BI, skills and IT-business alignment high on their list of priorities. “With mobility in the top five of critical priorities, CIOs are responding to demands from the business as well as a mobile-empowered workforce and this will only increase in 2013,” he said in a statement. Gedda added that cloud computing is also now viewed as a higher priority than IT infrastructure upgrades and unified communications by the CIOs surveyed. Follow Hamish Barwick on Twitter: @HamishBarwick Follow CIO Australia on Twitter and Like us on Facebook… Twitter: @CIO_Australia, Facebook: CIO Australia, or take part in the CIO conversation on LinkedIn: CIO Australia Related content feature 10 hottest IT jobs for salary growth in 2023 The demand for tech workers hasn’t slowed down, as rising salaries reveal the most sought-after tech professionals for 2023, according to data from Dice. By Sarah K. White Jun 08, 2023 8 mins Salaries IT Jobs Careers interview Oshkosh CIO Anu Khare on IT’s pursuit of value The specialty truck maker’s IT chief sees tech-enabled transformation being fueled by a relentless focus on strategic fit and customer value — and passionate business involvement. By Dan Roberts Jun 08, 2023 9 mins Automotive Industry Manufacturing Industry IT Strategy news analysis What LOB leaders really think about IT: IDC study Businesses leaders increasingly rely on digital innovation to meet their goals but are not always giving IT a say in key business decisions, a disconnect that could hinder innovation, a new IDC study has found. By Peter Sayer Jun 08, 2023 6 mins Business IT Alignment IT Strategy IT Leadership news Salesforce’s Marketing GPT and Commerce GPT to help build personalized services The new generative AI based services take advantage of the company’s Data Cloud and proprietary Einstein GPT, Salesforce said. By Anirban Ghoshal Jun 08, 2023 4 mins Salesforce.com CRM Systems Artificial Intelligence Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe