Let’s dive into a new IT Leaders Pulse Report 2022 by MuleSoft Research. This surveys over a thousand IT leaders worldwide working in enterprise organizations. The report has 20 key findings. I’m going to focus on five, quoting ZDNet.
Employee well being now an investment priority – Over the next 12 months, the majority of respondents plan to invest in improving IT employee wellbeing ahead of upskilling and increasing team headcount. This includes providing enhanced remote and flexible working capabilities.
Improved collaborative processes needed between IT and business teams – IT is no longer just a technology enabler; IT now solves business-critical problems, tackles major business objectives, and helps develop competitive advantages with technology.
IT is leaning into existing investments rather than buying new technology – Most IT leaders (72%) prefer to update or upgrade existing solutions wherever possible rather than replacing them.
The role of senior IT leaders has evolved beyond technology acumen – In a post-pandemic world, senior IT leaders require a skill set that is much broader than technology expertise. The report found that 84% of IT leaders noted the need for developing non-IT skills to add strategic value to their businesses.
IT now measured by productivity, cost reduction, and experiences – Roughly half of all senior IT leaders are now evaluated on employee productivity (52%), cost reduction and optimization (50%), and customer (48%) and employee experience (46%). This varies between industries; for example, 62% of senior IT leaders are measured on employee productivity for financial services and insurance.
Borrowing enterprise data and adapting it to the needs of SMB is a staple of this show, and the ideas here aren’t going to be revolutionary… they’re likely just harder for small companies.
I’m increasingly convinced that the consultancy model is (or will) swing around in popularity among the most successful providers in the industry. This list is the same that any business owner will be asking for… and your gold/silver/bronze/plastic tiered offerings don’t address these needs. That’s amplified if customer services are out of the cloud. And that’s why we care – focusing here.