Compared with their peers at larger companies, mid-market CIOs are under far less pressure to reduce costs; only a third say their company’s top management believes there is fat in the IT budget, about half the rate at companies with revenues of more than $500 million.
Maybe that’s why so many of these companies aren’t taking advantage of some of the best ways to reduce IT costs. CIOs aiming to reduce costs are more likely to reduce spending on services than on any other item in the IT budget. But they might save even more by participating in group buying arrangements, consolidating servers and storage, or adopting ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library, which provides smart practices for IT managers and staff; for more, see go.cioinsight. com/ITIL), Our study reviews 20 cost management techniques, technologies and services, and finds that among mid-tier firms, only four are more likely to produce large savings. Surprisingly, such popular cost management approaches as service level agreements, benchmarking and chargebacks provide the least savings.
Finding 1: Modest Cost Pressures for SMB CIOs
Finding 2: Few Mid-Tier Firms Plan to Cut Staff Costs
