Tough times mean tough IT decisions. A persistent recession and national security concerns contribute to what was already a tall order for IT: Improve existing processes and deliver ROI on a limited budget. We asked top industry analysts what will impact IT departments the most in 2002, and how they should respond.
The following analysts offer their thoughts:
- David McCoy, Gartner
- Bruce Temkin, Forrester Research
- Marc Cecere, Giga
- Cate Quirk, AMR Research
- Evan Quinn, Hurwitz Group
David McCoy
Analyst
Gartner
This year won't be any easier for IT than 2001, and large enterprise projects will be put on hold. You'll see some innovative application integration, but beware of obsolete mobile applications.
Across industries, geographies, and businesses, the use of IT as an engine for efficiency, growth, and opportunity will remain undiminished in 2002, although healthy scepticism and smarter planning will accompany it. Gartner predicts three crucial areas will shape business investment in IT in 2002 and beyond: external forces, business behaviour, and applications and technologies.
External forces
- The IT industry will remain challenged, facing accelerated job losses and significant vendor consolidation.
- Safeguarding people, knowledge, systems, and nations will take priority, and will impact innovation by the middle of the decade.
- Consumers will go online, finally, with the number using online account management doubling by 2005.
Business behavior
- Short-term focus on expenses will squeeze IS organisations in 2002 as demand for their services increases.
- Outsourcing and trusted suppliers will take more control as capital spending reduces in favor of operating budgets.
- Through 2004, businesses will continue to view the discipline of CRM as a critical component of corporate strategy but will back off enterprise-wide efforts.
Applications and technologies
- More than 50 percent of mobile applications deployed at the start of 2002 will be obsolete by the end of 2002.
- By 2004, Web services will dominate deployment of new application solutions for Fortune 2000 companies.
- During 2002, leading-edge businesses will exploit application integration to generate business innovation.
