amr research

Should IT be run like a business?

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 07:00:00 -0500

There's no limit to what IT can do, as every CIO knows. But there is also an unfair burden being placed on IT departments these days, to save money that lives outside of their sphere of influence. That might work as long as IT is completely embedded in a company. But IT cannot be the go-to place when business managers are looking to cut costs, especially when this kind of thinking hurts IT's capabilities.

A recent report by AMR Research indicates that IT departments want to spend 9.3 percent more in 2008 to improve their own performance, while companies are planning to increase IT spending by only 5 percent. As any CIO knows, money talks and putting the money into resources pays off tremendously.

Companies have been investing less for the long-term benefits of IT lately and many are redesigning the way their IT departments purchase new technology. And there is considerable pressure to run an IT department as a business, so that it doesn't take a big bite out of the overall budget. Yet cost-cutting in the IT sphere can often be shortsighted with regard to the long-term health of the business, making internal operations less efficient and hurting external customer needs. In the end, greater IT investments may mean greater productivity, better functioning systems and eventually, more cost savings and higher profits.-Judi

SaaS driving customer management software sales

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 20:01:38 -0400

Although there has been quite a bit of frustration with customer management software over the last year, an AMR Research study suggests the market is growing at a solid 8 percent annual rate. This growth is being attributed to SaaS, which allows potential customers to support Sales Force Automation, Customer Relationship Management and other related applications without having to absorb the massively expensive costs associated with traditional site license-based enterprise software deployments. Still, AMR Research's Rob Bois notes in CIO Magazine that the key to success lies beyond fielding new technology models. SaaS does not remove the need to engineer well thought-out business processes and implement effective change management strategies. Companies that skip these critical business steps will be victims of the same frustrations that dogged CRM implementers at the beginning of the decade. The only difference is that the up-front costs will be lower. The study noted that the top three vendors in the market include SAP, Oracle and Salesforce.com. While Salesforce.com continues to hold a third place position, the report notes that the company is taking away market share from its larger competitors.

For more on SaaS driving customer management software sales:
- check out the findings in CIO Magazine. Article

Social responsibility: a CIO function

Wed, 04 Apr 2007 20:01:39 -0400

According to a survey by market research firm AMR Research, CIOs aren't taking an active enough role in their companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Often, the data and information needed to prioritize CSR investments and measure its impact are spread across organizations in disparate systems and databases. It's the CIO's responsibility to take ownership of this problem. For example, a successful CSR initiative would include information accessed from a company's enterprise resource planning (ERP) system--something CIOs should recognize and incorporate. But as companies realize the business benefits, CSR is becoming a front-of-mind issue for many organizations. That should change the way that CIOs view CSR over time.

For more about the importance of CSR:
- read the article at ZDNet

IT spending healthier than ever

Sun, 16 Jul 2006 20:01:39 -0400

Despite the daily headlines of increasing violence overseas and the rising cost of oil, tech spend is expected to keep moving forward, according to a new report from AMR Research which just released its latest Tech Trends tracking study. Over two-thirds, or 76 percent, of IT leaders polled say they'll be boosting IT spending this year--the average IT budget will jump 19.5 percent, a pretty big increase over the 5.9-percent jump in 2005. The first budget focus will be on shoring up infrastructures, and then money will likely be spent on software management tools.

For more on the tech spend projections:
- check out this article at TechWeb