IT Strategy
IT strategy maps how technology will be used to support business goals and drive value. What are technology leaders doing to optimize and evolve their IT strategy?
One minute insights:
Leaders are satisfied with their IT strategy but in most cases, it is not perfectly aligned with the business strategy
Respondents say their IT strategies are changing due to digital transformation
Many use enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools as part of their IT strategy but proprietary ERP solutions are very rare
Key focus areas for IT strategies in 2022 were cybersecurity, risk management and governance, as well as hybrid work enablement
The most reported benefit of a successful IT strategy is increased agility, but almost half of respondents struggle with integrating ERP tools and add-ons
Most leaders are satisfied with their IT strategy but complete strategic alignment with the business is uncommon
Nearly all respondents (96%) say their IT and business strategies are aligned, but only 17% have achieved perfect alignment between the two.
Is your IT strategy aligned with your business strategy?
Not at all aligned 0%, Not sure 0%
n = 300
85% of leaders are at least moderately satisfied with their current IT strategy.
Are you satisfied with your IT strategy?
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Alignment to the business goals [is] critical, but not the only thing that should be focused on.
Our IT Strategy is good, but it’s difficult to have the business respect it and not go in a million other directions.
Leaders’ IT strategies are changing, often as a result of digital transformation
The vast majority (85%) have been making changes to their IT strategy.
Has your IT strategy been undergoing any change?
n = 300
Digital transformation (69%) is the most common reason leaders changed their IT strategy, but many also made changes to create new digital products (51%), increase innovation (44%) and adopt emerging technologies (44%).
What are/were the reasons for change in your IT strategy?
New leadership 21%, Acquisition 15%, Following third-party assessment 10%, Merger 9%, Other 2%, None of these 0%
n = 255
Cybersecurity needs [are] changing our IT strategy nowadays.
IT strategies should never be set in stone; they evolve as technology evolves, business demand evolves, and the cyber security landscape becomes more complex.
The majority are using one or more ERP tools, with SAP as the most common vendor
About three-quarters (74%) of respondents use at least one ERP tool in their IT strategy.
Do you use any enterprise resource planning (ERP) tools as part of your IT strategy?
n = 300
Proprietary ERP solutions are rare, with just 1% using an internally developed tool. 70% of leaders use external ERP tools.
Which ERP tool(s) are you using as part of your IT strategy?*
*The values for this chart were calculated by categorizing and consolidating open-text responses to this question
n = 223
For those using external solutions, the most commonly used vendors are SAP (22%), Oracle (13%) and Microsoft (6%). 17% are using multiple solutions.
Breakdown of vendors specified by respondents:
n = 223
Very difficult to align on ‘Best in Class’ versus ‘Integrated’ solutions to align with business objectives. It is a game of give and take.
The technology is less important when defining an IT strategy rather than an intimate understanding of business priorities and plans.
Cybersecurity, risk management and governance was a key focus area in most 2022 IT strategies
Most (64%) focused their 2022 IT strategy on cybersecurity, risk management and governance, but over half of leaders also cited hybrid work enablement (53%) and strategic alignment with the business (53%) as key focus areas.
What are your top areas of focus for IT strategy in 2022?
Improving IT agility (including a move towards a DevOps culture) 25%, Talent management (including hiring, retention and skills development) 20%, Addressing IT service management (ITSM) gaps 13%, IT support/help desk 12%, Financial management (e.g., reducing costs, improving efficiencies, etc.) 11%, Creating composable architecture 4%, None of these 0%, Other 0%
n = 300
Leaders see risk management (68%), financial management (56%) and the culture of their IT org (51%) as the most important factors when evaluating an IT strategy.
What factors are most important to you when evaluating an IT strategy?
Vision (i.e., is the business leadership likely to support the strategy?) 27%, Bandwidth potential (i.e., do you have the human capital to achieve your goals? Are there competing projects or other priorities?) 20%, None of these 0%, Other 0%
n = 300
Your IT Strategy needs to align to the business but at the same time has to ensure data integrity and security.
IT strategy should align also with the corporate cybersecurity strategy as IT is a key enabler of cybersecurity objectives/initiatives.
A successful strategy increases IT agility and cost efficiencies, but ERP integration is a common challenge
Almost two-thirds (65%) say increasing agility is a key benefit of a successful IT strategy and 54% point to greater cost efficiencies and a simplified technology stack.
What are the top benefits of a successful IT strategy?
Future-proofed business 28%, Improved talent retention 25%, Improved scalability 24%, None of these 0%, Other 0%
n = 300
Half of respondents (50%) struggle to create strategic alignment between IT and the business, but many also face technical challenges around ERP integration (49%) and defining architectures (41%).
What are the top challenges to a successful IT strategy?
Data management (i.e., are stakeholders able to measure success via business intelligence tools? Is customer data adequately protected and compliant?) 26%, The state of cyberthreats (i.e., escalating threat landscape) 21%, Talent management (e.g., hiring and retention, skills gaps, etc.) 17%, Organizational resistance to change (i.e., cultural misalignment) 13%, Siloed business units 11%, Focus on IT processes over service delivery 10%, Lack of plan for emerging technologies 7%, Gaining business support 5%, None of these 0%, Other 0%
n = 300
We often get alignment from business leadership. However, when implementations start, we struggle to get labor from business resources to participate in the project for final requirements, implementation, training, etc. You can judge real business commitment by how much of the labor they control gets used on the projects supporting the strategy.
Strategy needs to be positioned by leadership and cascaded to other areas of the organization to be successful.
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Respondent Breakdown
