CIOs are followers, not leaders - Excessive caution amongst CIOs and IT directors could be hampering innovation as research showed that just one... [Computer Weekly]

Weak demand continues to force organisations to reduce their cost base and IT budgets are still a major target for cost-cutting. This puts CIO's under intense pressure to balance cost-cutting with the need to deliver high-value services to the business.

Where cuts are made they must improve efficiency, not reduce effectiveness.

The challenge for CIO's is to:

Following a well-trodden path, Dell is to acquire IT services firm Perot Systems for £2.4bn.

Dell described the move as "providing a broader range of IT services and solutions and optimising how they’re delivered".

Dell expects the transaction to complete by January 2010.

Many organisations are taking a step backward and putting major IT decisions on hold while they revisit their strategy during the recession, according to analyst IDC.

An organisation should only spend money on IT which directly supports its business strategy and operational effectiveness and should not spend money on IT which doesn't.

Unfortunately technologies and priorities change over time and inefficiencies develop. The IT function spends too much of its time 'keeping the lights on' with little time dedicated to reviewing how the IT budget is spent.

We define IT spend is the sum of the 'keeping the lights on' and the 'projects' budgets and help you to focus on this budget in its entirety to bring costs under control and increase IT's impact on the bottom line.

Our experience can help you to:

There is evidence that 2nd and 3rd round cutting of IT budgets is jeopardising the ability of IT organisations to adequately service the business.

The current economic  climate is encouraging a review of new technologies such as cloud computing, as well as more established options such as outsourcing to meet the demand for lower costs, but these initiatives are being implemented as short-term measures.

e-Skills UK survey shows firms top priority is costs and chief worry is the strength of the pound

Cost cutting is the number one priority for IT leaders this year, according to research by sector skills council e-Skills UK.

The survey of 2,000 IT managers showed that 61 per cent of companies say reducing costs would have more emphasis over the coming year, compared with just eight per cent who thought there would be less priority. The remaining 31 per cent said there would be no change.