IT leaders in Australia and NZ struggle to balance DX with growth

CIOs and CTOs in Australia and New Zealand are finding it difficult to balance IT modernisation efforts with business growth and profitability, according to new research sponsored by third-party support provider Rimini Street.

A survey commissioned by the company from Tech Research Asia found that 98% of CIOs and CTOs polled in Australia and New Zealand are pursuing digital transformation, but many lack a comprehensive vision for their digital future.

While 88% of respondents across the two markets said they are running an IT modernisation program, 61% say they are behind schedule and 68% report being over budget.

Meanwhile, nearly 60% of respondents admit that their modernisation programs are not succeeding beyond marginal improvements for the business.

The research also found that the top three IT management priorities for CIOs and CTOs over the next 12 months will be modernising core systems to create better performance while lowering costs management, keeping existing IT systems running and managing IT budget constraints.

More than four in five (81%) respondents also reported that their organisation believes that hybrid IT is a key approach to IT modernisation.

Rimini Street EVP of Global Transformation and Chief Product Officer David Rowe said the research indicates that there is significant room for improvement when it comes to modernisation programs.

“Many organisations believe they can — and should — extract greater ROI out of their existing core systems,” he said.

“Enterprise software system roadmaps have been dictated by the vendors, leaving little to no control to the organisation implementing them. This is increasingly changing, and we are seeing more leaders take their roadmap into their own hands to achieve better outcomes by optimising existing systems tailored to their business goals, innovating around the edges and outsourcing maintenance and support.”

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