IT will create the strategy of all business

Convinced of the forthcoming tough times, Boards of Directors expect very high strategic deposit of information technologies more and more in 2012, the Gartner company in the next overview reports. The expectations of respondents concerning strategic participation of IT in business grew from 32% in 2010 to 66% in 2012.

From October to December, 2010 Gartner and Forbes Russia 96 directors of the companies conducted survey. The companies with revenue more than $1 billion participated in a research.

Jorge Lopez, the vice president and the leading analyst of Gartner, considers that achievement of a greater influence of IT, in the conditions of budget restrictions, is what forces to rewrite rules by which IT act. "There are two aspects: performance of IT where internal transactions and structures are reformed by IT for achievement of the cost considerably differing from competitive and also the scenario CIO where the IT organization holds a leading position, rewriting competition rules in the industry. To meet the increased expectations, it will be required to rethink how IT work", - Lopez told.

Though 73% of the polled heads consider that the economic situation tough and will remain like that in the near future, more than a half (51%) told that they are still focused on revenue growth. Tension between these two points of view means that Chief information officers need to plan carefully systems which will be necessary for development, but to build them flexibly, on a case of change of circumstances in the conditions of the high level of unpredictability.

One of research purposes - to specify what point of view of Boards of Directors on the different questions of business rising before them. There was a hypothesis that questions of managerial level, such as corporate management, along with corporate social liability, diversification of labor power, "green" policy and charity, will have high rating. However, among 28 top priorities, there was an accurate differentiation where priorities of business are separated into three groups:

Top 12: Business performance block: in this list the questions having direct link with income and profit dominated.

Averages 8: Block of policy of Board of Directors: here the questions concerning directly council such as appointment or strengthening of the management dominated.

Lower 8: Block of social responsibility: this list contains "green" policy, corporate social liability and charity and political lobbying.

Lopez noted that the following reference point prevails: disposal of everything that is not the main thing in business. "Recession already reduced a significant amount of unnecessary actions in the enterprises of the majority of the industries. These steps are intended for business cost reduction which are not a part of the main strategy, and IT by nothing here differ".