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8 - 10 April 2002
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Florence, Italy
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Michael Fleisher Opens Florence Symposium/ITxpo
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Michael Fleisher, Chairman and CEO, Gartner | | |
Monday 8 April 2002
"These past two years have been a difficult journey for the chief information officer - a journey from the very best economy of their professional lives, to the very worst, all in the space of a few short months."
Speaking at the opening of Symposium/ITxpo in Florence today, Gartner chairman and CEO said that the tech landscape remains bleak. Demand is off in virtually every sector, innovation has slowed to a crawl, consolidation increases, and IT budgets are essential frozen. "Don't listen to the rumours talking up an economic recovery", warned Fleisher. "2002 will remain a tough environment on a global basis."
2003 and 2004 will bring with them recovery, Fleisher continued, "spurred by a limited amount of innovation, by large-scale replacement of ageing hardware and by massive industry consolidation."
But for the pressured CIO, 2003 is a long time off and meanwhile, "The tough environment is forcing companies to make some very painful choices about how best to insure short-term survival and long-term success," said Fleisher, "but the basic agenda for what companies need to do is clear."
- Understand client relationships and how to fully exploit that relationship. The most successful companies are focusing their efforts on their highest value clients.
- Companies must continue to manage costs aggressively across the enterprise.
- Companies must find the means to place some small bets on future growth and plant the seeds for future growth.
"Look for examples in your own countries," advised Fleisher, "and you will see that the successful companies are low cost producers providing high-value client experiences. They figured out a strategy and then looked at how they could bring all assets, including technology, to bear on that strategy."
The CIO must find out straight away which business processes can be improved and which parts of that strategy can be enhanced with technology - then go out and acquire the best to make it happen.
By Andrew Spender, Gartner
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