1. IT decision makers say skill shortages an obstacle during purchasing

Skill shortages are the top obstacle for IT decision makers weighing new technology purchases, with 41 per cent reporting that as an issue, according to a study from Foundry, a division of IDG. Respondents said the buying process was most likely to stall while determining business need (37 per cent), evaluating products and services (37 per cent) and determining technical requirements (33 per cent).

2. EY: Majority of CIOs plan to acquire or partner with GenAI platforms

Eighty-six per cent of CIOs say they “plan to acquire or partner with GenAI-based software platforms or businesses, often finding these investments yield more value than building in-house”, the 2024 EY CIO Sentiment Survey found. The survey revealed that 49 per cent of CIOs believe that GenAI will substantially enhance the value of their organisation but also noted that means that “more than half are still not yet ready to believe that GenAI will justify its early hype”.

3. Companies need proactive cybersecurity to minimise downtime costs: Splunk

Downtime might be costing Global 2000 businesses as much as $400 billion a year – approximately 9 per cent of profits – according to a global report from Splunk. The report was based on a survey of executives from companies across 53 countries. “As CISOs, no matter what industry, we must adopt a proactive and integrated approach to cybersecurity and observability to minimize these risks and ensure the continuity of our mission,” noted Shefali Mookencherry, CISO and privacy officer at the University of Illinois Chicago.

4. CIOs: It’s hard to show ROI on tech spending, and that’s also likely for AI

CIOs consistently report that they find it very or extremely challenging to show a return on investment from their technology investments, and the latest global CIO report from Lenovo found that that challenge will apply to AI investments as well. Lenovo’s survey found that 61 per cent of CIOs say it’s difficult to demonstrate ROI from tech investments and 42 per cent don’t expect to see a positive ROI from AI “for at least two to three years”.

5. MinterEllison: Few CIOs say tech spend achieves expected value

Only 13 per cent of CIOs report that their companies have achieved the value expected from their technology spend, according to a review of market data and one-on-one interviews by the legal and consulting services firm MinterEllison. Even as 75 per cent of CIOs say their organisations are undergoing major transformation initiatives, executives are “reporting lowest levels of confidence in defending positions and their ability to forecast benefits for planned initiatives,” the survey noted.

6. AI and cybersecurity to lead tech spending, CIOs say

Foundry’s CIO Tech Poll finds that, over the next 12 months, IT decision makers expect their company technology spending to increase the most in AI (70 per cent) and cybersecurity (68 per cent). The top cybersecurity technologies that CIOs are exploring include behaviour monitoring and analysis (35 per cent), Zero Trust (33 per cent) and container security (28 per cent).

7. Deloitte survey points to ‘the golden era of the CIO’

Nearly two-thirds (63 per cent) of CIOs report directly to their company’s CEO, a survey by Deloitte found, an indication of the CIO’s growing importance to businesses. “The majority of CEOs surveyed (57%) plan to embed new technologies in their business model to find opportunities for growth, further validating that this is the golden era of the CIO.”

8. Most US businesses are working to reinvent themselves: PwC

More than two-thirds of organisations have started working to reinvent their operating and business models, PwC’s Pulse Survey of US business executives across six sectors found. The initiatives they have launched or completed look at creating new ways to reach customers directly (75 per cent), making their products ‘smart’ (74 per cent), building collaborative networks to share value (72 per cent) and creating digital products (72 per cent).

9. US state CIOs have laid foundation for GenAI, but concerns remain

State CIOs in the US report a number of concerns about the impacts of GenAI on their work, according to a report prepared by McKinsey and the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO). The top concerns include lack of necessary skills (53 per cent), security (49 per cent), privacy issues (47 per cent), issues around bias and fairness (43 per cent) and inaccuracy (39 per cent). The report noted, “Nearly all states have made progress in their GenAI journeys, with the majority having completed research, issued risk guardrails, collaborated with the private sector and invested in training.”

10. CIOs and CFOs working together more to deliver ROI on tech investments

CFOs and CIOs are building a stronger relationship as companies see the need to deliver strong ROI from technology investments, and nearly 41 per cent of CIOs say that their CFO counterparts make technology decisions, according to a global survey of CFOs and CIOs by IT services and consulting company Rimini Street. “The deepening collaboration and shared accountability between the two groups can lead to greater profitability for the business, with 49% of CFO respondents sharing that they believe the positive CFO/CIO relationship was the reason for improved business outcomes,” the survey reported.