The importance of the impact of iT for organizations around the worid, especiaiiy in iight of a very siow recovery from the global financial crisis, has amplified the need to provide a better understanding of the specific geographic similarities and differences of IT managerial and technical trends. Going beyond identifying these influential factors is also the need to understand the considerations for addressing them in light of recognizing the respective local characteristics, especially when operating in a globally linked environment, although somehow heavily influenced locally. By comparing and contrasting IT trends from different geographies, this paper presents important local and international factors (e.g., management concerns, influential technologies, budgets/spending, organizational considerations) necessary to prepare IT leaders for the challenges that await them. It can also serve as an indicator as the respective geographies evolve from the economic conundrum. The research is based on data from four geographic regions (United States (US), Europe, Asia, and Latin America). The same questionnaire (although translated for the respective respondents), based on the lead authors well-respected and long-running Society for Information Management survey, was applied across the geographies. This paper presents the major findings based on survey responses from 620 respondents (275 US, 100 European, 59 Asian, and 186 Latin) in mid-2011. The top five management concerns were: (1) IT and business alignment; (2) business agility and speed to market; (3) business process management and business process reengineering; (4) business productivity and cost reduction; (5) IT reliability and efficiency. The five most influential technologies were:(1) business intelligence; (2) enterprise resource planning systems; (3) cloud computing; (4) mobile and wireless applications; (5) customer relationship management.

This paper is based on data collected as part of an 11-year authors’ survey research on IT trends in different geographic regions, including North America, Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, and Latin America. This study focuses on global similarities and differences in technology trends (e.g., management concerns, influential technologies, budgets/spending, organizational considerations) among geographies to gain insight into the challenges that IT and non-IT executives face today as well as provide an understanding of the impact these technologies have on the organization's long-term plans and investments. The results for the 11-year period show that the top five management concerns are: (i) IT-business alignment; (ii) business agility; (iii) business cost reduction/controls; (iv) business productivity; and (v) security/privacy. The five most influential technologies are: (i) analytics/business intelligence; (ii) cloud computing; (iii) ERP systems; (iv) CRM systems; and (v) security technologies. Taken together, these findings suggest that the alignment of IT and the business and leveraging IT to reduce business expenses and generate revenue are and will remain essential. The results also suggest that the role of the CIO is evolving and offshore outsourcing is on the rise. Budgets, hiring, and salaries are also increasing, albeit cautiously. This research provides important implications for IT managers to benchmark considerations such as organizational, sourcing, spending, issues/concerns, and technologies across geographies, and sheds light on a perspective on leveraging important IT trends to make thoughtful decisions about them over the coming years, and address current business challenges.

The importance of the impact of IT for organizations around the world, especially in light of a very slow recovery from the global financial crisis, has amplified the need to provide a better understanding of the specific geographic similarities and differences in IT managerial and technical trends. Identifying these influential factors is one thing; the paper also looks at the challenges in addressing them, taking into account both local responsiveness and global pressures. By comparing and contrasting IT trends from different geographies, this paper presents important local and international factors, including management concerns, influential technologies, budgets/spending, and organizational considerations). In addition these trends help to prepare IT leaders for the challenges that await them. The IT trends also serve as an indicator as the respective geographies address their difficult economic environments. The research is based on data from four geographic regions, namely United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America. The same questionnaire (albeit translated for the respective respondents), based on the lead author's well-respected and long-running Society for Information Management survey, was applied across the geographies. This paper presents the major findings based on survey responses from 787 organizations (195 U.S., 360 European, 55 Asian, 41 Australia, and 136 Latin) in 2012. The top five management concerns were: (1) Business productivity & cost reduction, (2) Business & IT alignment / integration / fusion, (3) Business agility & speed to market, (4) Business process management/reengineering, and (5) IT cost reduction. The five most influential technologies were: (1) Business intelligence, (2) Cloud computing, (3) Enterprise resource planning, (4) Apps developments, and (5) Customer relationship management. Overall, the paper finds that while the economic climate is improving at different rates around the globe - albeit at a slower pace than anticipated - ITs role continues to evolve as it provides organizations with a fundamental vehicle for reducing business expenses and new opportunities for increasing revenues.

The importance of the impact of IT for organizations around the world, especially in light of the global financial crisis, has amplified the need to provide a better understanding of the specific geographic similarities and differences of IT managerial and technical trends. Going beyond identifying these influential factors is also the need to understand the considerations for addressing them, in light of recognizing the respective local characteristics, especially when operating in a globally linked environment. By comparing and contrasting different geographies, this paper presents important local and international factors (e.g., management concerns, influential technologies, budgets/spending, organizational considerations) necessary to prepare IT leaders for the challenges that await them. The research is based on data from four geographic regions (United States, Europe, Asia, and Latin America). The same questionnaire (although translated for the respective respondents), based on the lead authors of the well-respected and long-running Society for Information Management survey, was applied across geographies. This paper presents the major findings based on survey responses from 472 organizations (172 US, 142 European, 103 Asian, and 55 Latin) in mid-2010. The top five management concerns were: (1) business productivity and cost reduction; (2) IT and business alignment; (3) business agility and speed to market; (4) business process re-engineering; and (5) IT reliability and efficiency. The five most influential technologies were business intelligence, cloud computing, enterprise resource planning, Software as a Service/Platform as a Service, and collaborative tools.

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