Today, functional IT departments are crucial for business success, particularly during the work-from-home era and in light of customers’ expectations of digitalized omnichannel connections. Business innovation is often rooted in the IT department, so problems with IT staffing or resources will reverberate throughout the organization and dictate its success or failure. Smart organizations are discovering that IT leadership needs a seat at the top table, rather than having arbitrary decisions made by non-IT personnel handed down from on high.
Unfortunately, not all companies are getting the message. ManageEngine, the enterprise IT management division of Zoho Corporation, this week announced results from the second report of its “IT at Work: 2022 and Beyond” study. The survey data examines the empowerment of IT and the ability of IT teams to influence and make business decisions. The study found that nearly 81 percent of North American IT decision-makers (ITDMs) think their company should have supported them more in the last two years, and that 58 percent of them are actively seeking a new job.
There’s no question the past few years have placed a burden on IT teams. That increasing responsibility has done little for their overall happiness. In fact, fewer than half (44 percent) of ITDMs feel as loyal to their employer as they did two years ago. Some of the dissatisfaction comes from being expected to work in the office full-time: nearly half of all IT leaders noted that they would resign from their current organization if flexible work was no longer offered (48 percent) or if there was no potential to advance their careers (45 percent).
“Over the last few years, IT teams have proven indispensable to business innovation and continuity, yet senior management has been reluctant to bring them into larger corporate decisions,” said Vijay Sundaram, chief strategy officer of Zoho Corporation.
With the remote work now a mainstay in business culture and cyber security a constant challenge, the role and workload of IT teams is not likely to be reduced in the future. At the same time, business groups within organizations will continue to require IT support to meet internal and market demands.
”Tthis will require the expertise and involvement of ITDMs to identify appropriate technologies and meet corporate guidelines in areas like compliance, privacy and security,” added Sundaram. “Oddly, decentralization could actually make IT leaders even more strategic.”
Edited by
Erik Linask
