Logicalis US: Study Shows CIOs Prepared to Outsource Technology Maintenance and Management through Services-Led IT Transformation

NEW YORK, Jan. 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Logicalis US, an international IT solutions and managed services provider (www.us.logicalis.com), an international survey conducted by its parent company, Logicalis Group, has found that CIOs are becoming increasingly willing to put key IT infrastructure – from security to servers – in the hands of trusted partners. As the need to play a more strategic role within their organizations becomes paramount for CIOs, they are working to reshape the IT function within their organizations to focus on strategic priorities like business analytics and mobility strategies.

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According to the survey, even technologies once seen as in-house essentials are now considered ripe for outsourced management by CIOs and IT directors looking for ways to regain lost time and re-establish their leadership positions through a services-led transformation. The problem is, 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 activities.

Knowing they need to make a change, 63 percent of those surveyed say they want to streamline and optimize their company's technology, and they are looking for managed services partners to help them do just that.  In fact, CIOs say they want to make better (31 percent) and more extensive (30 percent) use of managed service providers as they seek to reshape the IT function to allow them to focus on higher-value, more strategic activities.

IT leaders are serious about their outsourcing intentions: A significant number of the survey's CIO respondents (44 percent) say they are prepared to put security – traditionally one of IT's most important jobs – in the hands of a trusted partner.

[Find out what other key technologies CIOs are willing to outsource in their effort to streamline and optimize their IT infrastructure here: http://www.ict-log.us/sEO2j.]

What are these IT pros going to do with their newfound time? According to the Logicalis survey, CIOs' key priorities for reshaping their companies' IT functions include focusing on activities that enable the business' strategic goals (45 percent) – with business analytics (42 percent) and a mobile enterprise strategy (33 percent) emerging as top priorities.

"CIOs are seeing that embracing, integrating and managing a range of different external service providers is the best way to free time and resources to meet their business colleagues' ambitions for technology-led business transformation," says Chris Gabriel, Logicalis' CTO. "CIOs will need to re-shape and re-skill parts of their operations to move from being the primary provider of all ICT technology, to the primary provider of ICT services. It is a subtle but substantial change that will keep the CIO relevant and recognized as the head of a critical and compelling business function."

"Today's IT leaders are also being asked to build a services-defined enterprise that meets their companies' need for a more balanced approach to delivering technology services to the business user," says Mike Martin, Senior Vice President, Solutions and Services, Logicalis US. "Logicalis is aligning our service offerings to give customers a single point of engagement by bringing systems integration, managed services and cloud service offerings under a single portfolio named 'Optimal.' The Logicalis Optimal Services portfolio will help CIOs manage the overhead of technology, infrastructure and operations, while enabling them to respond proactively to their business transformation aspirations."

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