Global survey report from Protiviti identifies top
priorities for CIOs and IT professionals
MENLO PARK, Calif.,
March 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/
-- As organizations continue to undergo major changes and
technology upgrades, CIOs and IT professionals are under growing
pressure to manage these transformations successfully while
simultaneously addressing increased cybersecurity threats,
according to a new survey by global consulting firm Protiviti
(www.protiviti.com).
Protiviti's 2015 IT Priorities Survey
(www.protiviti.com/ITpriorities) found that the roles of CIOs and
business-minded technology leaders continue to encompass a
broadening scope of responsibilities. The priorities of these
leaders have increased in significance and severity since the
firm's 2014 survey – a result that stems in great part from growing
security and privacy concerns.
"Gone are the days where information security and data privacy
vulnerabilities are viewed as just technical issues. Today, these
challenges include critical business policy, governance, compliance
and communications that must be addressed across the enterprise,
placing even more responsibilities on the shoulders of executive
management," said Kurt Underwood, a
managing director with Protiviti and global leader of the firm's IT
consulting practice. "Our survey findings show that organizations
going through major transformations see the need to elevate more of
their attention and budgets toward mitigating and combating
security risks as they seek to enhance and protect the value of
their businesses with technology."
The Top IT Priorities in 2015
More than 1,000 respondents, including CIOs, IT vice presidents
and IT directors, participated in this year's survey to provide
feedback on what they view to be the most critical priorities for
2015. Across an assessment of 10 technology-related categories, the
following issues were ranked by respondents as this year's most
'significant' priorities on the survey's indexed list* (including
ties):
1.
|
Virtualization** (86
percent)
|
2.
|
Virus/malware
advanced threat and detection (83 percent)
|
3.
(tie)
|
Data breach and
privacy laws (83 percent)
|
Enterprise
architecture (81 percent)
|
Incident response
success (83 percent)
|
Monitoring security
events (84 percent)
|
7.
(tie)
|
Data architecture (81
percent)
|
Data governance (81
percent)
|
Incident response
policy and preparedness (82 percent)
|
Incident response
reaction time (83 percent)
|
IT project management
(82 percent)
|
Patch management (83
percent)
|
Vulnerability
scanning (82 percent)
|
*IT priorities were indexed on a point scale of 1-10 (10
being highest). Any issue with an index of 6.0 or higher was
considered a "significant priority." Percentages were calculated
for the "significant priority" category (between 6-10 points on the
scale).
**Virtualization is the creation of a remote and often shared
(rather than local and owned) technology resource, such as a
server, data storage, platform or application.
At the same time as companies are challenged with cybersecurity
risks, they're also focused on implementing and managing
transformation in their organizations. Well over half of all
organizations surveyed (60 percent) are undergoing a major IT
transformation. Most of these initiatives will last a year or
longer, intensifying demands on IT departments to manage these
changes successfully while addressing other critical business needs
(e.g., cybersecurity).
The top three reasons given by survey respondents for undergoing
IT transformation were:
- Cost/simplification (64 percent)
- New functionality (mobile, new products, etc.) (55
percent)
- Service assurance (48 (percent)
Separately, the survey also found that CIOs and IT professionals
are placing a greater emphasis on strengthening their internal
relationships by opening the lines of communication with C-level
and senior executives, the board of directors and business-unit
leaders. According to the report, 42 percent of CIOs and IT
professionals report to the CEO; 21 percent to the CFO; and 22
percent report to the COO.
About the Survey
Protiviti's 2015 IT Priorities Survey was fielded within
the last 90 days across the globe; the majority of respondents stem
from North America. Respondents
work across the public, private, government and non-profit sectors
and are representative of virtually all industry sectors.
Survey Resources Available: Report, Webinar, Infographic,
Benchmarking Tool
Protiviti's 2015 IT Priorities Survey report and an
infographic of the survey highlights, along with a short video, are
available for complimentary download at
www.protiviti.com/ITpriorities.
On April 23, 2015 at 10:00 a.m. PDT, Protiviti
will host a complimentary webinar to explore the survey results and
their implications for IT leaders. Protiviti's Kurt Underwood will be joined by Cal Slemp and Jeff
Weber, Protiviti managing directors from the firm's IT
Consulting practice. To register for the 60-minute webinar, please
visit www.protiviti.com/webinars.
Separately, Protiviti is providing a free online benchmarking
tool for IT professionals, available
at www.protiviti.com/ITpriorities. By submitting responses to
this year's survey questions in the areas of technical knowledge,
management of IT and organizational capabilities, professionals can
personalize a report to compare their organization's IT
capabilities and priorities with their peers.
About Protiviti
Protiviti (www.protiviti.com) is a global consulting firm that
helps companies solve problems in finance, technology, operations,
governance, risk and internal audit, and has served more than 60
percent of Fortune 1000® and 35 percent of
Fortune Global 500® companies. Protiviti and its
independently owned Member Firms serve clients through a network of
more than 70 locations in over 20 countries. The firm also works
with smaller, growing companies, including those looking to go
public, as well as with government agencies.
Named to the 2015 Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work
For® list, Protiviti is a wholly owned subsidiary of
Robert Half (NYSE: RHI). Founded in
1948, Robert Half is a member of the
S&P 500 index.
Protiviti is not licensed or registered as a public
accounting firm and does not issue opinions on financial statements
or offer attestation services.
Editor's Note: Infographic (in JPEG and PDF) and photos
available upon request.
Logo -
http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090115/AQTH541LOGO
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/despite-demands-of-ongoing-transformation-cios-and-it-professionals-remain-focused-on-security-and-privacy-in-2015-300055694.html
SOURCE Protiviti