The good news is that 38% of the 300 UK IT senior executives surveyed by Computer Business Reveiew thought their co-workers viewed IT as a strategic weapon in driving corporate competitiveness. Only 9% believed IT was seen as little more than a cost center.
But there’s still some way to go before IT becomes an equal and accepted member of the business team in many UK firms. Over 50% of the sample were convinced business executives saw IT as useful, but really only there to support existing business processes.
Similar questions were put to business executives by analyst firm IDC earlier this year, which suggest that IT folk may be a little too hard on themselves.
Some 70% of the UK and European business chiefs surveyed thought their IT managers had helped with innovation in their companies and almost 60% wanted to see more cash pumped into IT.
But echoing the CBR research, only one in five business managers said that IT had initiated business strategies.
They have clear priorities in mind on how IT could better support their business and strategic objectives, said Angela Vacca, IDC consulting manager in European vertical markets.
