Logicalis US: New Study Reveals CIOs Seeking to Maintain Relevance, Reduce Day-to-Day Tasks through Services-Led Transformations

NEW YORK, Dec. 17, 2013  /PRNewswire/ -- Logicalis US, an international IT solutions and managed services provider (www.us.logicalis.com), says an international survey conducted by its parent company, Logicalis Group, holds a warning for CIOs worldwide.  The study indicates CIOs must act now to take on a more strategic role or risk being pushed aside by line-of-business managers who are making increasing numbers of technology buying decisions.

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Sixty percent of CIO respondents agreed that line-of-business managers will gain more power over IT decision making in the next three to five years – a trend driven by the growing availability of externally available cloud services and expectations for technology and application consumerization.  The study also showed that CIOs are acutely aware of the growing need to play a more strategic role within their organizations.  While some are actively working to confront the challenge of legacy operational costs and drive services-led technology and operational transformation in order to reshape the IT function, many admit they are still struggling with day-to-day IT management tasks:

• Three quarters (73 percent) of CIOs and IT directors want to spend at least half of their time on strategic activities.
• In reality, over half of the CIOs and IT directors queried currently spend 70 percent or more of their time on the day-to-day management of technology, while 80 percent spend at least half of their time on low-value, non-strategic activities.

The international survey found a consensus among CIOs working to create the dramatic shift in focus needed to impact their long-term relevance.  Aligning internal technology and operational optimization with a more extensive use of managed services partners and cloud services is quickly becoming a priority for many CIOs:

• 63 percent see streamlining and optimizing their technology infrastructure as vital to freeing their time for more strategic goals.
• 31 percent would like to consolidate the use of managed services, selecting single vendors to manage specific technologies and/or services across multiple territories.
• 30 percent want to hand more day-to-day management activities over to specialized managed services providers.

"These findings confirm the reality we see on the ground," says Ian Cook, CEO of Logicalis Group.  "IT leadership is now actively looking for a services-led transformation strategy that will re-align from a technology-defined function to one that is services-defined.  But CIOs are not only looking to transform their IT systems.  We interpret these common themes as CIOs striving to change the way IT is perceived by the wider organization.  Who wants to run a business function that line-of-business managers think is less agile and less relevant than external providers? Clearly these CIOs are taking a proactive approach to staying relevant, focused on a transformation agenda across all aspects of IT infrastructure, operations and the end-user experience."

Creating a services-defined enterprise in which IT and line-of-business managers are working toward shared priorities is now a crucial mandate for the CIOs surveyed.  It is clear that CIOs plan to focus their teams on delivering an IT experience comparable with external service providers and will also engage with services partners to assist them in achieving the service maturity and agility necessary to compete for internal business in the coming years.

"We predict that business innovation focused on creating a wider variety of solutions targeted at new business opportunities and challenges will drive a profound shift in the role of the IT organization," says Chris Barnard, Associate Vice President at IDC.  "Enterprise IT groups cannot afford any longer to be just watching, studying, exploring, or experimenting with cloud services, mobile devices, social technologies, or the other core elements of what we call the 3rd platform. They must develop deep competence in all of these technologies, often with the help of third parties with expertise in 'as-a-service' strategies."

"Many CIOs see the use of managed- and cloud-based services as a way to unlock important resources without bearing the day-to-day operational responsibilities. They can achieve the agility necessary to keep up with today's business requirements," says Vince DeLuca, CEO, Logicalis US.  "A relatively small percentage but rapidly growing number also see cloud solutions as a way to consume IT services directly from a provider.  Finding a single services partner with consistent methods for quoting, delivering, implementing, integrating, and managing solutions on a regional or global basis is quickly becoming a top priority, especially among CIOs of large organizations. Through Optimal Services, Logicalis is one of the select few that can offer a consistent way of doing business from location to location on a global platform."

Logicalis Unveils Optimal Services
In response to the survey, Logicalis is continuing to align its own services offerings to give customers a single point of engagement across three critical transformation journeys by bringing its Systems Integration, Managed Services and Cloud Service offerings under a single portfolio brand named "Optimal."  The Optimal services portfolio enables CIOs to create a balanced approach to owning, operating and funding the infrastructure and IT services their businesses need.

With over 2,300 services professionals in 24 countries, Logicalis is actively investing in expanding its services skills, capabilities, platforms and processes to address its clients' key infrastructure, operational and consumption challenges – including a recently announced initiative to explore the future impact of software-defined networks on a range of customer sectors as well as recent investments in ITSM skills in all major regions.

"Overall, it is clear from the survey that tackling both technology and operations transformation to deliver efficiency, maturity and agility is where our customers are looking for the most assistance today," says Chris Gabriel, CTO, Logicalis Group.  "CIOs increasingly want partners like Logicalis not simply to help in one area. They want maturity and agility in how they build a new virtual data center, but also in how they automate services, connect into their service management environment, and how they provide a service catalog internal customers can consume at a price point and experience comparable with external providers. In addition, they also want us to deliver instant maturity by providing new business solutions directly, in the form of managed or cloud-based services."

While the customer is looking for partners with a blended role as systems integrator, managed services provider and cloud solution provider to support the service-defined enterprise, the survey also suggests that CIOs recognize they may have too many services partners already. "Service provider sprawl is an issue many CIOs clearly want to avoid or remedy by consolidating a select number of service partners who can work across the services lifecycle, and that is very much part of the rationale behind the Optimal services portfolio," Gabriel says.

Want to Learn More?

• To access the study, see an infographic or learn more about Logicalis' Optimal Services portfolio, visit http://www.ict-log.us/rI4VZ

About Logicalis
Logicalis is an international IT solutions and managed services provider with a breadth of knowledge and expertise in communications and collaboration; data center and cloud services; and managed services.

Logicalis employs nearly 3,500 people worldwide, including highly trained service specialists who design, specify, deploy and manage complex ICT infrastructures to meet the needs of almost 6,000 corporate and public sector customers.  To achieve this, Logicalis maintains strong partnerships with technology leaders such as Cisco, HP, IBM, CA Technologies, EMC, NetApp, Microsoft, VMware and ServiceNow.

The Logicalis Group has annualized revenues of over $1.4 billion from operations in Europe, North America, South America and Asia Pacific and is fast establishing itself as one of the leading IT and Communications solution integrators specializing in the areas of advanced technologies and services.

The Logicalis Group is a division of Datatec Limited, listed on the Johannesburg and London AIM Stock Exchanges, with revenues of over $5 billion.

For more information, visit www.us.logicalis.com.

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Media contacts:
Lisa Dreher, VP, Marketing & Business Development,
Logicalis US
[email protected]
425-201-8111
www.us.logicalis.com

Karen Franse
Communication Strategy
Group for Logicalis US
[email protected]  
866-997-2424
www.gocsg.com

SOURCE Logicalis US