Why IT Architectural Plans Often Get Derailed

Despite the need for digital transformations, companies are falling short in developing long-term technology architecture planning to successfully modernize IT.

Just 11% of survey respondents said their company conducts long-term IT architecture planning that’s built around business groups, while 64% do this only on a year-to-year or project-to-project basis.

Another 25% said their company does not conduct any formal IT architecture planning.

63% of survey respondents said their organization needs to plan better for IT infrastructure, and 53% said the same about software development.

51% said their company needs to plan better for data needs, and 48% said the same about cyber-security.

Improved collaboration between the IT and business groups: 36%,
Greater ability to prioritize investments: 36%,
Easier evaluation of existing architecture to support long-term goals: 35%

Lack of budget: 40%,
Lack of knowledge about involved IT models and components: 32%,
Difficulty in combining existing architecture with new components: 31%,
Failure to gain buy-in from different parts of the organization: 28%

38% of the survey respondents said they focus on the usability of solutions when evaluating technology, while 37% said they focus on the various solutions’ impact on productivity.

52% said they need their senior leadership to support and fund tech initiatives in order to reach the cutting edge of IT utilization, while 46% cited the need to identify and quickly implement innovation.

Email: 68%,
Business productivity: 57%,
Web presence: 53%,
Financial management: 51%,
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP): 49%

51% of survey respondents said their organization has launched an internet of things (IoT) initiative, is experimenting with one or plans to start one next year.

32% said they will need new data analysis software to pursue the IoT, and 30% said they’ll need additional storage capabilities.