Business Intelligence, Mobile and Cloud Top the Technology Priority List for CIOs in Asia: Gartner Executive Programs Survey

Asian Businesses are Focused on Growth, Attracting New Customers and Reducing Costs

SINGAPORE, September 13, 2012- As CIOs in Asia continue their push for growth, a focus on cost structure, people and processes reflects their increasingly integral role in the business, according to the 2012 Gartner Executive Programs (EXP) CIO Agenda survey.

Speaking at a briefing in Singapore today, Gartner Executive Programs group vice president for Asia Pacific Linda Price said the priorities of CIOs in Asia were becoming more closely aligned with those of their global counterparts.

"This is the first time that we've seen such a tight alignment and I think it shows that Asia and the rest of the world are becoming one," she said. "Globalization is really having a huge impact on the global CIOs' view of business."

Top 10 Business and Technology Priorities

The business and technology priorities of Asian CIOs are strongly aligned with their global counterparts, with a few notable differences. Leading the technology priority list for Asian CIO's this year are business intelligence and analytics, mobile technologies and cloud computing.

Top 10 Business Priorities	Asia Rank	Global Rank	Top 10 Technology Priorities	Asia Rank	Global Rank
Increasing enterprise growth	1	1	Business intelligence and analytics	1	1
Attracting and retaining new customers	2	2	Mobile technologies	2	2
Reducing enterprise costs	3	3	Cloud computing	3	3
Creating new products or services (innovation)	4	4	Customer relationship management (CRM) applications	4	8
Consolidating, standardising and streamlining operations	5	-	Collaboration technologies	5	4
Improving efficiency	6	6	Enterprise resource applications	6	9
Expanding into new markets or geographies	7	10	IT management technologies	7	7
Managing and delivering operational results	8	5	Security technologies	8	10
Improving profitability (margins)	9	7	Legacy application modernisation, upgrade or replacement	9	6
Improving quality of products and services	10	-	Virtualisation desktop, server and storage	10	5

Source: Gartner Executive Programs (2012)

Reducing enterprise costs did not make the top ten business priority list for CIOs in Asia in 2011, but ranked number three on the list worldwide. Since then, however, it has become the third most important business priority in 2012. In line with this, Asian CIOs are also focused on consolidating, standardizing and streamlining operations, but this did not feature on the priority list of their global counterparts.

Business intelligence and analytics increased in significance from fifth in 2011 to lead the priority list in 2012. This is largely due to CIOs combining analytics with other technologies to create new capabilities, such as analytics plus supply chain for process management and improvement; analytics plus mobility for field sales and operations; and analytics plus social for customer engagement and acquisition.

Customer relationship management applications were a new entry into the top ten technology list this year, rising straight to fourth position. This supports the focus of Asian CIOs on attracting and retaining new customers in 2012.

IT Budgets

CIOs in Asia reported an average IT budget increase of 5.4 percent over 2011, significantly better than the nominal 0.5 percent worldwide average increase. Fifty seven percent of CIOs in Asiaexpected an increased budget this year, compared to 45 percent globally; 28 percent said their budget would remain flat (compared to 36 percent globally); while 15 percent of CIOs in Asia and reported that budgets would decrease from 2011 levels, compared with 19 percent globally.

"Europe and America are going into a very difficult period and our view is that more companies are decreasing their IT budget. Asia remains a bright spot," Ms. Price said.

The CIO role in Asia

The current tenure of CIOs in Asia averages 3.5 years, compared to a global average of 4.6 years. The survey also revealed that 58 percent of Asian CIOs report to the CEO in their organization, compared to 42 percent globally. CIOs in Asia estimate that they spend 60 percent of their time on IT related activities and responsibilities, and the remainder on broader business activities and responsibilities, similar to how CIOs around the world spend their time.

About the 2012 CIO Agenda Survey

The Gartner Executive Programs CIO Agenda represents the most comprehensive examination of business priorities and CIO strategies the survey includes responses from 2,336 CIOs representing more than US$321 billion in IT spending across 44 countries and 37 industries. The 2012 survey included 53 CIOs from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand. The worldwide CIO survey was conducted by Gartner EXP in the fourth quarter of 2011 and represents CIO budget plans reported at that time. The 2013 survey will be underway soon.

About Gartner Executive Programs
More than 4,000 CIOs and senior IT executives are members of Gartner Executive Programs, an exclusive organization combining the shared intelligence of the largest IT executive community in the world with customized access to Gartner insight and resources. Executive Programs help IT executives and their teams grow their enterprises, fuel competitive advantage and operate more efficiently. Additional information about Gartner Executive Programs can be found on Gartner's website at www.gartner.com/exp

Contact:

Susan Moore
Gartner
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susan.moore@gartner.com

About Gartner:
Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT) is the world's leading information technology research and advisory company. Gartner delivers the technology-related insight necessary for its clients to make the right decisions, every day. From CIOs and senior IT leaders in corporations and government agencies, to business leaders in high-tech and telecom enterprises and professional services firms, to technology investors, Gartner is the valuable partner to clients in 12,000 distinct organizations. Through the resources of Gartner Research, Gartner Executive Programs, Gartner Consulting and Gartner Events, Gartner works with every client to research, analyze and interpret the business of IT within the context of their individual role. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.A., and has 5,000 associates, including 1,280 research analysts and consultants, and clients in 85 countries.www.gartner.com.

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