“We’re Not in IT Anymore”

As Dorothy said to Toto after the tornado transported them to the unfamiliar Land of Oz, “We’re not in Kansas anymore.” CIOs are anticipated to have a similar sentiment in five years about the current state of their IT departments based on the findings of a recent analysis from the Corporate Executive Board (CEB) (NASDAQ: EXBD).

After interviewing and surveying hundreds of IT and business leaders regarding business, social and technology trends across the next five years, CEB, a leading research and advisory services company, predicts that three out of every four IT roles will either migrate to business services, evolve into business roles, or will be externalized by 2015. CIOs will face the choice of expanding to lead a business shared service group or seeing their position shrink to managing technology delivery.

“The Corporate Executive Board has been tracking the transformation of the Corporate IT function for more than a decade. According to the results of our most recent survey, we are embarking on one of the most significant changes in Corporate IT in years,” said Shvetank Shah, Executive Director of CEB’s IT Practice. “As one of our leading business unit GM clients put it, information has become too important to be left to only the IT function.”

CEB identified four emerging shifts in IT’s role and value that will contribute to the transformation of the corporate IT department by 2015:

• Information Over Process: Up to 80 percent of IT enablement opportunities in the business areas that drive growth, including marketing, sales, and customer service, will relate to business intelligence, collaboration, or the customer interface, not around enablement of business processes.
• IT Embedded in Business Services: Technology will be consumed as part of business services as the IT function merges into an integrated business shared services group alongside other corporate functions.
• Externalized Service Delivery: Cloud computing will enable externalization of applications development, infrastructure operations, and back-office processes by up to 80 percent, gradually eroding the “factory” side of the IT function shifting function more to technology brokers.
• Greater Business Partner Responsibility: With business leaders and end users having a greater knowledge and confidence with technology, business partners will have a greater role in areas where the value of differentiation outweighs the need for integration. This represents a shift in responsibility for technology decision making.

“CEB’s analysis found that many of these changes are currently underway and will likely be rapid, permanent, and radical,” said Shah. “Leading CIOs have embraced these transformations and are devoting the time, energy, and resources to actively shape the transition. We’re working closely with them to help them prepare for future events.”

For more information about CEB’s “The Future of IT” survey, Shvetank Shah is available to discuss the survey findings, methodology, and other IT trends CEB has identified through its CIO network. An executive summary of “The Future of IT” can be downloaded at http://www.executiveboard.com/it/.

About The Corporate Executive Board

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