Keep Your Balance: The 2002 CIO Agenda

From the survey results, we developed a series of implications for IS leadership that can help you weather 2002 and profit from the eventual economic upturn.

Sections 1 to 5 are dedicated to each key aspect of the survey. Section 6 sets out our recommendations arising from these survey results. Section 7 contains our concluding comments. An appendix includes selected details from the survey responses.

Section 1. 2002 will be a tough year
Business trends indicate that 2002 will be a very difficult year - tougher than 2001. IT budgets have been growing around 10 percent for several years. They have now stalled and may grow only slightly in 2002. At the same time, consumer and labor union activism will have much less impact in 2002.

Section 2. IS management priority: deliver short-term business value
Our survey revealed that IS management priorities in 2002 will focus on delivering and demonstrating short-term business value. Projects with longer payback periods will be put on the back burner until 2005, when cost pressures are expected to have eased. The good news is that finding IS staff in 2002, compared to 2001, will be easier because of the global economic downturn. This pause will also allow the technology base to mature.

Section 3. Technology priority: address immediate internal infrastructure needs
The requirement to demonstrate short-term business value changes technology priorities. In 2002, the focus will be on short-term infrastructure needs rather than longer-term projects, such as e-enablement and customer relationship management (CRMCRM). Tighter cost control puts experimentation with new technologies on hold. Again, there is some good news. By 2005, the infrastructure for mobile technologies is expected to be in place, even though it's not clear when, and how this infrastructure will occur. Alles zu CRM auf CIO.de