IT departments have a large opportunity to improve on the strategic contributions within their organizations, as a recent survey revealed that only 28 percent believe they are currently delivering on the needs of the business effectively. This was a key finding of independent research conducted by analysts at IDG on behalf of RES Software, which revealed that IT departments are feeling the pressure to prove real value to leadership, while maintaining consistent levels of service and meeting growing demands from users for better technologies.

Exploring IT strategy, current pain points, and how organizations plan to invest over the next three years, the research polled the opinions of 100 senior IT decision-makers at -based enterprises. It found that cloud computing (53%), security (41%) and mobile workforce (43%) will be key areas of investment, although the majority of respondents (76%) expect their IT budgets to remain the same or decline. This finding confirms that IT departments must make a dramatic shift to free-up resources through enhanced automation and self-service in order to see an increased budget.

Some of the results were concerning, highlighting an urgent need for IT to provide more business value. Half the respondents rated the relationship between the IT department and the business as “poor,” and 65 percent identified a pressing need to improve end user experience and service.

Organizations have also started looking at enterprise app stores to improve user productivity via self-service. But the majority (70%) stated that current solutions were missing key features, asserting that enterprise app stores ideally needed to offer all IT services – not just access to applications. Almost half (46%) said their department spends most of its time on general IT tasks, and a majority (84%) would prefer their teams to focus their time and efforts on more innovation and strategic activities.

“The daily tasks required to simply keep IT systems afloat and users up and running can be incredibly time consuming. Yet, IT decision makers are keen to give end users the simple and intuitive experience they are already familiar with from their personal lives. But with so many resources aimed at keeping the lights on, many IT departments find themselves falling far short of their own – and the business’s – expectations,” said Tracey Mustacchio, Chief Marketing Officer, RES Software. “IDG’s research confirms that IT must adapt and evolve by harnessing innovation in order to position itself more strategically. If IT could empower users by meeting most of their technology needs proactively and enable easy self-service for additional requests, then IT would truly be seen as crucial to employee productivity. Improving the technology experience in the workplace benefits both users and IT departments looking to make a positive impact on the business.”

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