Gartner sees shift in CEO priorities as firms focus on keeping customers

So says analyst Gartner, which also suggests that right up to 2015, a "recession-era mentality" will force a policy of paying for future investments from the cost savings obtained from existing IT operations. "From the CEO's perspective, growing confidence that is tempered by business caution will result in an aggressiveness to harvest the successes of the past through improved productivity," explains Jorge Lopez, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "At the same time, CEOs are taking those returns and investing them in building a future that can deliver high returns," he asserts. Meanwhile, Mark Raskino, vice president and Gartner fellow, adds: "CEOs are maintaining tight cost control to deliver better margins and more cash to cope with the continuing economic turbulence." Gartner suggests that CEOs and also CIOs should now be focusing on five key issues throughout 2010 and beyond, to achieve these kinds of goals. First, get to the end of your restructuring: if you're still in the middle of work started in 2009 – around streamlining business operations, dumping non-performing or non-strategic assets etc – then don't increase your exposure to another economic shock. CIOs, says Gartner, are advised not to expect an increase in budgets in 2010 but rather to expect to finance future IT projects from the cost savings obtained in other parts of operations. Second, focus on rebuilding customer trust (not just regulatory compliance), using technologies that help to provide transparency to internal operations.. Third, plan for an eventual return to growth by "taking a firm stand on plans for increasing shareholder value". CIOs need to understand that organisations must invest in the innovations that will build their future, while also guarding against the risk of another economic recession. Gartner reckons that's best handled by segmenting the activities of the organisation so that separate teams can focus on cost optimisation and the future. Fourth, don't forget the authorities' increasing focus on compliance in the post-crash era. Several areas will see new regulatory actions in the coming 24 months, warns Gartner. CIOs need to keep scanning the landscape of regulatory actions, as the pace is expected to pick up in 2011. Fifth, watch out for recession-driven changes. Gartner reckons that IT has a significant role to play here, "because it needs to deliver insights for the business to enable it to effectively navigate the changes ahead". That means IT must make investments in understanding customer intent, predicting the impact of business conditions and connecting strategy to outcomes, advises the analyst.