Around 40% of IT directors are bucking the trend of
battening down the hatches in the
economic recession by spending more on new IT projects.
While most IT directors are deferring projects and reducing
headcount, a bold and savvy minority is allocating budget to
strategic IT projects, a survey has revealed.
They are looking beyond short-term cost-cutting. Their aim is to
reshape the role of technology to create a competitive advantage
for the business and enable growth.
Despite pressure on
IT budgets, the percentage spent on new and creative projects
remains fairly robust, the survey shows.
Some 17% of 1,300 European IT executives polled by recruitment
firm Harvey Nash are
investing more than 15% of their budget in smart new ways of using
IT.
These IT directors are using the recession to prove their value
to the business, says
John Whiting, managing director of UK IT business at Harvey
Nash.
"Typically savings made through using technology to improve
efficiency is being spent on projects to boost revenue by creating
new products and services," he says.
The number of IT directors adopting this approach is bound to
increase, says Whiting, as there is a hunger for new ideas and ever
increasing demand from the business.
Most respondents to the survey (86%) said they have been asked
by the business to provide technology innovation that aids
competitive advantage.
Just under a third (29%) said they engaged in strategic projects
with targets, with 76% reporting good or reasonable success in such
projects in the past year.
Over half (61%) reported an ROI of 5% or more from innovation
projects, with 27% claiming a return of more than 10%.
The number of IT directors investing more than 8% of their
budget in new and creative projects has dropped only 7% in the past
year.
"Considering the scale of the macro-economic challenge being
faced, it is encouraging to see so many IT leaders innovating their
way to recovery," says Whiting.
Innovation can reduce the impact of the recession by proving
that businesses remain creative and focused on growth despite
economic conditions, the survey report says.
"Ensuring not only survival, but prosperity through the
recession is the best marketing opportunity for IT in years", says
Albert Ellis, chief executive at Harvey Nash.
The next year will give IT leaders the opportunity to show
greater leadership in the business, and those who do, will emerge
from the recession stronger, the report says.
According to Harvey Nash, IT leaders can expand their business
influence rapidly by pursuing "business-leading innovation" to
enable critical change in the business.
IT in the recession >>