Adam Gartenberg's Blog

IBM CIO Study: Business Intelligence and Analytics a Top Priority

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• Author: Adam Gartenberg
• September 23, 2009
• Category:  IBM  CIO  Analytics 

Earlier this month IBM released the results of a new global study based on face-to-face discussions with over 2,500 CIOs.  The findings really hit home for me, as the top line message pointed to exactly the type of problems we're helping organizations tackle every day.

According to the study, leveraging analytics to gain a competitive advantage and improve business decision-making is now the top priority for CIOs, with 83% citing business intelligence and analytics as the way they will enhance their organization’s competitiveness.

There were several other findings that also related to the use of information and its role in improving the business, and the differences between the responses for CIOs in high-growth companies and those in low-growth companies is striking (as quoted from the findings):

• One way CIOs are contributing is by helping the business cope with ever-increasing amounts of information. High-growth CIOs proactively craft data into actionable information 61 percent more often than Low-growth CIOs (58% vs. 36% for low growth).
  • “Our prosperity depends completely on our data,” said an Electronics CIO in Switzerland.
• High-growth CIOs are more likely to ensure that data is reliable and secure (81% vs. 66%).
  • Over and over, CIOs said their data ranked higher in security than reliability, although security concerns do still exist. On a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest, a Retail CIO said, “Data security equals 5 and data reliability equals 3.” Like many other respondents, an Insurance CIO in the United Kingdom described his company’s data as “very secure, but not as reliable as it could be.”
• While high-growth CIOs are doing a better job of ensuring that data is readily available for relevant users (67% vs. 51% for low growth companies), there is room for progress across all companies.
  • A Government CIO in the United States noted, “Data is readily available to users, but it’s tough to find if you’re a novice.”
• Visionary CIOs in high growth companies are almost twice as likely to see integrating business and technology as a priority (64% vs. 33% for low growth companies).

Please visit the CIO Study homepage to download the full report (registration required), an executive summary, or request a hard copy.

Links:

• ibm.com/ciostudy
• Press Release:  New IBM Study Highlights Analytics As Top Priority For Today’s CIO
• InformationWeek: Business Intelligence Beckons CIOs, IBM Study Finds
• Todd Watson:  IBM Global CIO Study: Analyze This

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