The Real-Time Enterprise 2003: Can You Keep Up With Business Change?

• 74%of CIOs say speed to market is critical in their industry
• 69%of CIOs say they can respond to changing conditions faster than competitors
• 69%say improving response time has led to reduced costs
• 55%say their budgeting procedures help rapidly change IT investment priorities
• 35% say they failed to respond fast enough to a business opportunity in the past year

The results of the July survey on the real-time enterprise are decidedly mixed. Most of the almost 600 top IT executives we surveyed seem keenly aware of the need for speed in order to succeed in business these days, and say that responding rapidly is an explicit strategy of their companies. But almost 70 percent say their companies are capable of responding faster than competitors—somewhat wishful thinking, it would seem, given its mathematical impossibility. Yet the payoffs of developing a responsive organization are real, with reduced costs and increased productivity topping the list. Among the IT practices that best promote rapid response: Good communication with business units, strong project management, and a clearly defined IT architecture. The most helpful technologies? E-mail and collaboration software, relational databases and network storage. The most promising new technologies? Broadband for remote workers, real-time analytics and rules engines. The single biggest drag on speedy response: budgeting practices.