SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Sixty-two percent of CEOs in the United States and Britain see IT-enabled changes as a key element in their post-recession strategy, says a survey released Monday.
The focus for 71 percent of the business leaders polled was a return to revenue growth in 2010 while the primary focus this year was placed on cost cutting to cope with the recession, said the web-based "2010 Gartner CEO and Business Executive Survey."
The poll was conducted by American IT research firm Gartner in the third quarter of 2009 on 190 senior business executives, 81 of whom were CEOs.
"Business leaders are gasping for growth after a long period holding their breath, and they are expecting to increase the importance of IT in their post-recession approach," said Mark Raskino, research vice president and Gartner fellow.
Raskino suggested that the chief information officers and their teams should take advantage of business leader's relatively positive attitude toward IT investment during budget negotiations.
CIOs should expect the re-prioritization of some key IT projects during 2010 as the business cycle starts to turn, he added.
POSITIVE IT INVESTMENT ATTITUDE
Meanwhile, the survey showed that business leaders' investment attitude toward IT is also positive.
In addition to the 43 percent of respondents who will increase IT investment level, 45 percent will keep the same IT investment level, while only 13 percent will decrease IT investment level.
Gartner once forecasted in October that worldwide IT spending next year would climb to 3.3 trillion dollars, a 3.3-percent increase compared with 2009.
"With this warm attitude to IT, CIOs should stand their ground if peers attempt to gain investment share at IT's expense," Raskino said.
ADAPT TO NEW PRIORITIES
CEOs and executives are also changing the order of their business priorities, with 85 percent of them placing customer relations at the top for 2010. Meanwhile, attracting and retaining skilled talent rose to third place.
Many respondents said IT's contribution to business performance was beyond cost management and has a role to play in "processes, flexible working, decision making and legal support."
"With business leaders... back toward customer value propositions and servicing during 2010, IT leaders should propose new ways in which technology can be used to support existing and new customers. They should also discuss talent-management issues and consider special provisions for key talent," Raskino said.
However, Raskino also noted that very few business leaders were anticipating any sort of V-shaped recovery. With the expectation of a modest rise in business activity, CIOs should control infrastructure investments accordingly and explore post-recession ideas for new technology-enabled ideas that produce strategic business value.
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