Business Execs Increasingly Making IT Decisions

Business executives are increasingly involved with making IT-related decisions.

That’s according to a new survey from analyst group IDC, which states that half of the 280 business executives surveyed consider themselves a key part of the IT decision making process. And more than 30 percent of them say their influence in the IT department is on the rise.

”On some levels, the survey confirms what IT professionals already know — that technology can provide businesses with a competitive advantage,” says John Gantz, chief research officer at IDC, which is based in Framingham, Mass. ”What’s surprising is the broad acceptance of technology among non-IT professionals. With business executives spending an overage of 26 percent of their time dealing with IT on a business level, leaving technology decisions about to IT professionals is a thing of the past.”

The survey also shows that more than 79 percent of business executives say IT is important to a company’s success. More than 50 percent of the same business people rated IT as absolutely mission critical. And 58 percent say the importance of IT to their companies’ success is increasing.

The survey was done in January and February of this year.

Business executives, according to the study, generally agreed on their top three concerns when it comes to IT supporting their business. About 70 percent pointed to reliability and uptime; 56 percent noted security, and 52 percent picked performance.

And it seems the suits are not alone.

”These concerns are consistent with what IT professionals say they worry about,” says Nicole Comiskey, a research manager at IDC. ”This suggests that these three aspects of IT weigh heavily on the minds of business and IT executives alike.”