IT in the new normal
Jan 12 2010
Retail Wrap >>

The economic tumult of the resent past has affected every facet of corporate operations, and it has not spared IT. In McKinsey’s fourth annual survey on information technology strategy and spending, conducted in October 2009, executives in the IT function were surveyed about their companies’ business technology agendas, the impact of the recession on their IT organizations, and their approaches to developing and executing IT strategies.

The results affirm the continuing importance of IT to strategic success, despite the recession. CIOs have felt strong pressure to deliver ever greater levels of efficiency in the downturn, but overall satisfaction with IT organizations remains high. In addition, most respondents foresee an increase

in IT investment, perhaps because companies are applying IT to solve problems across the business. Meanwhile, as technology-related disruptions continue to affect businesses, executives persist in pushing for closer integration between business units and IT.

At the highest level, all executives remain concerned about information- and technology-based disruptions—albeit with some key differences from last year. The degree of concern has eased, however: in this year’s survey, 50 percent of respondents say their companies are very or extremely at

risk given the potential effects of information- or technology-based disruptions on their companies, down from 65 percent in 2008. At the same time, the share of respondents rating their companies as somewhat at risk has increased to 30 percent, from 19 percent last year. Seen in the light of the

overall survey, this finding indicates that while core concerns about disruptions remain in the short term, recession-related preoccupations have become more acute. Nonetheless, companies remain exposed to the key unknowns they cited in 2008: shifts in customer expectations and bargainingpower as a result of access to better information, and significant changes in the cost to deliver existing products or services.