Key Issues for IT Executives 2009: Difficult Economy's Impact on IT

The global financial crisis has brought exacting times for organizations around the world. Faced with sharp decreases in revenue, companies have experienced IT budget and salary reductions, projects and purchases put on hold, and hiring freezes. While many IT organizations have been collaborating with their business partners to leverage IT to help reduce costs and improve productivity across the business, most are anticipating an economic turnaround, albeit not with much optimism, for a better 2010. When this survey was conducted, in June 2009, initial signs of the recession’s end had begun to appear, although companies were, and remain, cautious about future initiatives. Since its inception in 1980, the Society for Information Management (SIM) survey has helped IT leaders around the globe understand important issues and trends. This article presents the major findings based on survey responses from 243 U.S. organizations. The top five management concerns in 2009 were:1. Business productivity and cost reduction2. IT and business alignment3. Business agility and speed to market4. Business process re-engineering5. IT cost reduction.This is the fourth in a series of MISQE-published reports based on the SIM membership survey facilitated by the lead author. As in previous surveys, this article also presents findings on key application and technology development, and on various aspects of the IT organization. This year, the survey included additional results from European (27) and Chinese (174) organizations, giving the survey a more global perspective. The respective similarities and differences between the U.S. and these other two regions are highlighted throughout this article.