EDITOR ’ S QUESTION
HOW CAN IT LEADERS EFFECTIVELY INFLUENCE BUSINESS DECISIONS WITHIN THEIR COMPANIES ?
ManageEngine , the enterprise IT management division of Zoho Corporation , has announced results from the second report of its IT at Work : 2022 and Beyond study . power . For instance , non-IT departments have autonomy in purchasing apps and IT software ( 54 %), facilitating IT audits ( 52 %), purchasing devices ( 45 %) and hiring tech talent ( 48 %).
This newly released survey data examines the empowerment of IT and the ability of IT teams to influence and make business decisions .
It has become clear that IT departments are crucial for business success , particularly in the past two years as organizations struggled to adapt to remote work and accelerated digitalization . As a result , many IT decision-makers ( ITDMs ) were given a seat at the executive table to help guide business operations and were given greater responsibility in the implementation and use of technology .
In fact , according to the study , nearly nine out of 10 North American business and technology leaders ( 88 %) believe IT is more responsible for business innovation now than ever before and 85 % agree IT could drive even greater innovation in the business if they had a stronger leadership position .
Business decision-makers in the US and Canada stated that their IT teams are most often consulted for advice on finance ( 53 %), security ( 52 %) and strategy ( 51 %) decisions . Another three-quarters ( 76 %) said their IT teams have complete or considerable authority to prevent business decisions based on security and technical concerns .
While IT is considered essential to the executive leadership of organizations , there are limits to its
In addition , while nearly all North American respondents said that their organization has implemented a flexible work model , four in 10 ITDMs reported that they were inadequately or not at all consulted as their organization adopted and adapted to this model .
When asked what they want most from their role in the next five years , 45 % of ITDMs answered that they want to learn new skills and another 41 % said they want to be able to guide change within the organization . This aligns with how they see IT evolving within their companies in the next five years ; they believe IT should have a greater role in setting strategies for organizations .
“ Over the last few years , IT teams have proven indispensable to business innovation and continuity , yet senior management has been reluctant to bring them into larger corporate decisions ,” said Vijay Sundaram , Chief Strategy Officer of Zoho Corporation . “ But the role of IT in organizations will only grow and become more decentralized as more lines of business , especially those with no time to wait on the IT department , deploy IT to meet rapidly changing market requirements . Yet this will require the expertise and involvement of ITDMs to identify appropriate technologies and meet corporate guidelines in areas like compliance , privacy and security . Oddly , decentralization could actually make IT leaders even more strategic .”
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