Global CIO Survey 2008 - Innovator vs Operator - Capgemini

Information Technology and the Role ofthe IT FunctionFigure 1: Where does innovationoriginate most?Research andDevelopmentOperationsSalesMarketingITFinance012Average ranking 1 to 6 (where 6 is the areain which innovation originates most)Figure 2: European countries – ITviewed as able to drive businessinnovation (North America includedfor comparison)The business thinks IT is able to drive business innovationItalySpainGermany &SwitzerlandEasternEuropeNetherlands& BelgiumUK &IrelandNordicFranceNorthAmerica10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%3% of CIOs agreeing456Information Technology isrecognised as critical tobusiness innovation —the IT function is notStartlingly, a report from theEconomist Intelligence Unit 4 foundthat while 83% of CEOs and boardmembers think that IT’s predominantstrategic role will be to enablerevenue growth, only 62% of ITexecutives feel the same way. Thesurvey also found that 41% of CEOsand board members and 37% of ITexecutives believe that in five years’time standalone IT departmentswould have ceased to exist.It is interesting that the IT function’sview of IT as a revenue driver divergesso dramatically, and so pessimistically,from that of the business. Our ownfindings show that informationtechnology is seen as vital to businessinnovation, but the IT function is not.In our survey, 70% of respondentsagreed that information technologywas critical for business innovation.Yet fewer than half said theirbusinesses viewed the IT function asa driver of business innovation, anda mere 24% identified the ITfunction as the main initiator ofbusiness innovation.In a comparison between businessfunctions to identify where innovationoriginates most in the organisation,the IT function ranked fifth out of six(below Sales, Marketing, Operationsand Research and Development). Theonly business function that rankedbelow the IT function as a source ofinnovation was Finance.There are some wide geographicaldiscrepancies in how IT is viewedwith regard to business innovation.North American organisations, andNorthern European ones outsideGermany and Switzerland, tend to bemore sceptical than others. Theaverage age of the organisationsinterviewed tended to be higher in themore sceptical regions. The unhappyimplication is that the more matureusers and companies are in the use ofIT, the more sceptical the business isabout the IT function.4 Nov 2006 – The changing role of IT in the business6