Virtualization, Cloud Computing Are Major Investment Areas For IT Executives In 2010

CIOs, CTOs and senior IT executives from 172 U.S. companies indicated in a new survey that virtualization and cloud computing are the major new application and technology investments for 2010, while the most important application/technology continues to be business intelligence.

Business productivity and cost reduction were cited as their top business concerns in the 2010 IT Industry Trend Survey, commissioned by the Society for Information Management (SIM).

This is the second consecutive year that business productivity and cost reduction has received such a wide margin of emphasis in the survey conducted annually by SIM, the premier network for IT leaders.

Many of the top 10 concerns remain on the list from previous years but shifted positions,including business agility and speed to market, which jumped from the No. 3 position to No. 2 in 2010. Globalization, a new priority this year, was ranked as the No. 10 concern on the survey, which annually provides important benchmark data in areas including spending, salaries, job scope of IT professionals and technical/business trends. The top four areas, including IT and business alignment -- a perennial concern of IT leaders -- received extremely high ratings.

The full top 10 list of concerns in SIM's annual survey is:

1. Business productivity and cost reduction
2. Business agility and speed to market
3. IT and business alignment
4. IT reliability and efficiency
5. Business process re-engineering
6. IT strategic planning
7. Revenue generating IT innovations
8. IT cost reduction
9. Security and privacy
10. Globalization

Comment from Jerry Luftman, former SIM Executive VP: The insights from the study confirm that the economic downturn is continuing to cause a significant shift in IT priorities. It is essential to recognize how organizations are leveraging IT during this prolonged economic conundrum, as well as preparing for when the economy will improve.

The top concerns and applications/technologies for IT executives are only a small part of the comprehensive SIM study. In-depth results for this year's survey will be presented at SIMposium 2010, The Charm of IT: Bringing People, Process & Technology Together, Oct. 3--5 in Atlanta. Visit www.simposiumconf.com for more information.

Contact: http://www.simnet.org