Workers increasingly expect to do their jobs anywhere, anytime, on any device. But according to the 2011 Forrester "State of the Workforce Technology Adoption" survey of 4,985 information workers, it's executives driving that advancement. While 35 percent of employees are all-day desktop users tethered to the office, 90 percent of executives regularly shuttle between work, travel and home.
<strong>The Social Organization </strong> How to Use Social Media to Tap the Collective Genius of Your Customers and EmployeesBy Anthony J. Bradley and Mark P. McDonald
1. Integration could pose challenges. Possibly the biggest issue with Lion has been how it gets along with existing applications-especially Adobe's-because it doesn't support Flash. Both sides say they are working on this, but for now this limitation restricts the use of Adobe applications. Bryson Payne, CIO of North Georgia College and State University, says, "if these [Adobe] issues aren't 100 percent resolved, we'll halt the rollout of Lion completely." Tom Catalini, VP of IT at William Gallagher Associates, also noted that the download and upgrade process was anything but quick: "It was confusing at points because the install process did not report a lot of progress."
According to our biannual tech priorities survey, spending on mobile and wireless continues to rise, with 54 percent of CIOs planning to increase budgets in that area, up ten percent from January. Tablets in particular seem to be gaining ground -- 55 percent of the 261 respondents plan spending increases there.
Cloud computing is practically mainstream, according to the latest CIO Economic Impact survey of 291 IT leaders. In fact, nearly half (48 per cent) of the CIOs surveyed said they have adopted the government's Cloud First policy, which requires agencies to evaluate cloud options first, over traditional IT approaches, before making any new IT investments.
Your office is now optional. A recent study from Infonetics Research projects that enterprises will spend $5 billion on videoconferencing and telepresence by 2015. To accommodate the need for instant connectivity and information sharing at the office, CIOs need to coordinate IT investments with physical space. Vendors like Polycom and Steelcase are teaming up to integrate audio, video and file sharing using multiple ports and display screens at office meeting tables.
Out of the 333 executives we polled in November, 54 per cent have plans to grow their budgets in 2011. That’s a significant improvement compared to the low point in May 2009, when only 14 per cent planned a budget increase.
1. It's time to say goodbye to Entourage. Outlook has finally arrived for Mac users. The good news: It's easier to send files and calendar invites through Exchange. The bad news: It won't sync with iCal or allow side-by-side calendars. New features include public folders, category syncing and Social Connector, which imports LinkedIn contacts and status updates from Facebook. Reed Sheard, VP and CIO at Westmont College, thinks that, overall, "if it works as advertised, it will save time on the support side."
More than two-thirds of IT leaders believe mobile technology facilitates business innovation at their companies. Less than half think mobile investments are being driven by business strategy.
Many CIOs aim to become more strategic IT leaders. But it isn't easy.
Over half of IT leaders plan to ramp up budgets in the coming year, with only 16 percent planning cuts. So says the latest CIO Economic Impact Survey, which polled over 250 IT leaders about their spending plans and business outlook at the end of the summer. The survey also indicates 64 percent plan to increase IT capital spending in the next year, up 8 percent from April.
An overwhelming majority of IT leaders handle their business intelligence (BI) in-house now, but a recent CIO survey suggests that will change in the next three years.