Ivanti Survey Reveals Tension in IT Departments between "Keeping the Lights On" and Innovation

Research Conducted by IDG Connect Finds that Maintaining Critical Infrastructure and IT Systems is the Most Cited Expectation for IT (56%) well over Supporting New Digital Business Initiatives (33%)

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Ivanti

Aug 23, 2018, 09:00 ET

SALT LAKE CITY, Aug. 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ivanti, the company that unifies IT to better manage and secure the digital workplace, today announced survey findings that show that IT leaders in companies across the U.S., Europe and Middle East are caught up in a balancing act where everyday tasks, such as maintaining strong operations, are outweighing more creative projects, such as leading innovation and supporting new digital business initiatives. This is according to a new survey carried out by IDG Connect, and commissioned by Ivanti.

The survey, "The CIO's Conundrum: Can IT Move from 'Keep the Lights On' to Creative Thinking?" which was based on the responses of over 300 IT decision makers, discovered a tension whereby tasks such as supporting business processes, lowering IT spend and taking responsibility for corporate governance and regulatory compliance are taking precedence over creativity.

"It's not over-dramatizing matters to argue that enterprises today face an existential crisis: innovate or die," said Matthew Smith, President, Demand Generation at IDG Communications. "As globalization and digital-native start-ups threaten incumbents, smart companies need to liberate their CIOs to think ahead of the curve rather than obsess over day-to-day operations. But today IT is all too often still regarded as a support function or information leaders are too stretched to drive competitive differentiation."

The IDG survey found that maintaining critical infrastructure and IT systems was the most cited expectation for more than half (56%) of respondents. After that, the most cited expectations were lowering IT spend (50%) and supporting more agile business processes (41%). The least cited expectations were enabling executive leadership's strategic innovation (28%) and training staff on IT security (23%).

When asked how their IT teams spent most of their time, respondents most cited security initiatives (52%), implementing new technologies/processes (52%), maintaining and updating applications/systems (42%) and acquiring the right talent (38%). Asked about investment plans over the next two years, 53% said there would be more money allocated for new cloud and infrastructure while 46% expect increased budget for data analytics and 39% expect to invest in maintaining/modernizing existing infrastructure and services.

"Progressive CIOs want to innovate! Currently, the day to day operations or 'keeping the lights on' demands the lion's share of the IT budget, while only a fraction is currently dedicated to driving innovation," said Duane Newman, Vice President, Product Management and Marketing at Ivanti. "IT can't let the operations ball drop. When companies provide 5% or 10% more time on innovation and creativity, they quickly reap benefits and deliver true digital competitive advantages for their business."

To view the full report, The CIO's Conundrum: Can IT Move from 'Keep the Lights On' to Creative Thinking? visit: https://go.ivanti.com/Web-White-Paper-The-CIOs-Conundrum.html.

About the Survey
The data points referenced above come from The CIO's Conundrum: Can IT Move From 'Keep the Lights On' to Creative Thinking? The study was commissioned by Ivanti, produced by research firm IDG Connect and conducted as an online survey in early 2017. Almost 40% of the 300-plus respondents were from the US and the rest were split evenly across the UK, France, the Nordics, Benelux and the Middle East regions, with a smaller number of respondents from other European countries. About a quarter of respondents were from financial services with healthcare/medical (21%), energy/utilities (18%), education (17%), government (14%) and pharmaceuticals (5%) also covered. By organizational size, a quarter of respondents came from companies with 500-999 staff and the rest extended all the way to those with a 20,000-or-greater headcount. All respondents were in IT, with the highest percentage describing themselves as directors.

About IDG Connect
IDG Connect is the demand generation division of International Data Group (IDG), one of the world's largest technology media companies. Established in 2006, it utilizes access to 44 million business decision makers' details to unite technology marketers with relevant targets from any country in the world. Committed to engaging a disparate global IT audience with truly localised messaging, IDG Connect also publishes market specific thought leadership papers on behalf of its clients, and produces research for B2B marketers worldwide.

Ivanti: The Power of Unified IT.
Ivanti unifies IT and Security Operations to better manage and secure the digital workplace. From PCs to mobile devices, VDI, and the data center, Ivanti discovers IT assets on-premises and in the cloud, improves IT service delivery, and reduces risk with insights and automation. The company also helps organizations leverage modern technology in the warehouse and across the supply chain to improve delivery without modifying backend systems. Ivanti is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has offices all over the world. For more information, visit www.ivanti.com and follow @GoIvanti.

SOURCE Ivanti