Overstretched and constricted IT departments struggling with boardroom ‘demand disconnect’

When asked what was holding their department back from working more efficiently, an overwhelming 36% stated budget constraints, followed by resourcing constraints and limitations on team skills (24% and 20% respectively).

Not surprisingly, when asked to describe their current IT budget, around a third (34%) of the respondents claimed it was ‘stretched’ or ‘inadequate’.
Interestingly, a noticeable disconnect becomes apparent when looking at the spending priorities of the IT department compared to that of the boardroom. If given free reign over the IT budget spend the majority (58%) of IT departments would prioritise long-term, back-end infrastructure investment, with virtualisation solutions (24%) and additional storage (18%) topping the wish list. Whereas the boardroom is pushing for more immediate and visible priorities driven by end-user demands such as upgrades of productivity software e.g. Office (top priority at 20%).

With this in mind, when asked what is holding the IT department back from making their preferred investment, budget holder priorities (58%) and influence from the boardroom (20%) came out top.

Digging further into this disconnect with the boardroom, the survey found that a huge 44% of respondents claimed lack of technological awareness at the board level stops them from communicating the needs of the IT department effectively, with only 8% highlighting their own lack of appropriate business acumen as an issue.
Finally, when looking into where the IT department spends a majority of its current time, 30% stated rolling out new solutions, followed by responding to, and dealing with, end-user admins and troubleshooting queries (20% and 18%). Bottom of the list included rolling out company-wide policies and software updates (18% and 14%).

David Howell, European Director, ManageEngine, commented on the results: “Disconnect between the IT department and the boardroom has always been an issue, but this survey highlights that as budgets become more and more stretched this disconnect will have an increasing effect on the wider business. Overlooking an IT department’s priorities, such as back-end improvements, is not only detrimental to the department’s time, but also impacts the efficiency of the business as a whole. The focus on tactical fire-fighting activities, over more strategic long-term actions, exacerbates this problem even further.” Howell continued: “Being able to communicate with the boardroom effectively will continue to be a crucial skill for the IT department. In the meantime, using cost-effective and agile IT solutions will help alleviate stretched capacity and utilise budgets more effectively.”