Pity the CIOs who report to CFOs these days; they must not be relishing the Monday-morning meeting. In its fourth annual survey devoted to technology issues, Financial Executives International (FEI) uncovered a bleak picture of reduced ambitions, confused direction, and general stagnation.
Even E-business, which has seemed relatively immune to spending cutbacks, was found to have lost some of its luster. Last year, “determining the appropriate use of E-commerce” was the top priority among the hundreds of senior-level financial executives who responded to the survey. This year, that mission drops to number seven, usurped by “identifying the appropriate level of technology investment.”
Fair enough. E-commerce requires investment, and times are tight. Besides, it may be that companies have moved so aggressively to develop their E-commerce strategies that many believe they have, in fact, determined the appropriate use.
Whether the priority is to determine the right E-commerce investment or the right technology investment overall, companies seem hard-pressed to quantify it after the fact: 58 percent say they don’t effectively measure returns on technology investments.
Jerry Boltin, national practice director for business intelligence at Computer Sciences Corp., says that while companies may not be confident in their ability to measure the ROI of technology projects, they are putting all discretionary spending through various forms of formal analysis. “It may not be as sure as buying a bond at 7 percent,” he says, “but it does reflect a desire to make sure that every dollar counts.”
Those dollars are currently in shorter supply, as 41 percent of the respondents said they feel “significantly constrained” when it comes to buying or developing new applications. Short-term earnings goals, staff resource limitations, and the need to spend on maintenance and infrastructure were the top reasons cited for the constraint. That’s on a par with the most recent figures from Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, which polls approximately 200 CIOs each month on their technology spending plans. In August, MSDW found that Windows upgrades on desktop computers and servers were the top priorities, with E-commerce initiatives tying for third place with network upgrades and a move to the latest version of Microsoft Office software.
The FEI survey did find one area ripe for more spending: outsourcing. That’s consistent with CFO magazine’s own survey results, which found that companies are interested in a wide range of emerging options in this arena. The FEI survey anticipates double-digit growth in several forms of outsourcing, notably IT, production, and human resources.
Weighting Game
Finance executives rank their top IT issues.
2001 | 2000 | 1999 | |
Identifying the appropriate level of technology investment | 61.2% | 56.4% | 60.0% |
Prioritizing technology investments | 55.3% | 47.4% | 73.3% |
Identifying how IT can improve or influence business processes | 53.3% | 53.3% | 53.3% |
Establishing/maintaining effective dialogue between IT and users | 53.1% | 49.2% | 46.7% |
Using technology to drive business change | 39.7% | NA | NA |
Upgrading/replacing legacy systems | 39.4% | 48.3% | 46.7% |
Determining appropriate use of E-commerce | 13.3% | 58.4% | 32.4% |
E-Commerce E-Roding
How companies describe their involvement with E-commerce.
2001 | 2000 | 1999 | |
Conducting a significant amount of business (>50%) via E-commerce | 8.4% | 4.2% | 6.2% |
Conducting a moderate amount of business (20-50%) via E-commerce | 14.4% | 14.4% | 17.7% |
Piloting E-commerce applications on a small scale (<20%) | 40.3% | 51.5% | 32.4% |
Not currently involved but considering it | 27.1% | 24.0% | 31.4% |
No involvement and have no plans for it | 9.8% | 5.2% | 12.3% |
Sources: FEI; Computer Sciences Corp.