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2009 CIO Agenda

Meeting the Challenge: The 2009 CIO Agenda
In 2009, executives face challenging global economic conditions that have not existed for more than 50 years. These conditions challenge enterprise plans and strategies. As enterprises face continued uncertainty and volatility, their leaders face two fundamental questions:

  • In an uncertain economy, where should the enterprise focus its attention and resources?
  • Beyond cutting costs, what are the enterprise goals in a volatile market?
Business expectations call for CIOs to play a role in responding to these questions. In doing so, they are challenged with delivering the improvements needed to raise enterprise effectiveness while managing IT resources and performance. Meeting this challenge successfully requires them to take decisive action and be resourceful across operations in delivering results.

A Survey Like No Other
"Meeting the Challenge: The 2009 CIO Agenda" represents the most complete study of CIO views and insights available. Survey respondents are CIOs from leading companies who work with Gartner to deliver the business value of IT. It's the largest survey of its kind—examining the priorities, resources and strategies of CIOs in 1,526 organizations located in 33 countries and across 26 industries. The average enterprise IT budget is $92 million.

Effectiveness Meets Enterprise Challenges in 2009
Effectiveness gains importance in uncertain times. Defined as the ability to achieve financial and strategic plans, effectiveness gives enterprises the flexibility to meet challenge with change. Business leaders expect IT to contribute to raising enterprise effectiveness. Therefore, meeting the challenges of 2009 requires CIOs to lead and have the foresight to look at IT in new ways—through four imperatives:

  • Be decisive in setting priorities.
  • Do the first things faster.
  • Be resourceful in restructuring IT.
  • Modernize the technical infrastructure.
These imperatives form the basis for the 2009 CIO Agenda and its focus on making the enterprise more effective, increasing its ability to achieve results.