As expected, our report on the Top 30 IT Trends for 2007 generated quite a stir among readers. The study, culled from the 13 surveys CIO Insight conducted in 2006, broke down the largest upcoming trends in IT strategy, management, security, and technology. The biggest standouts our editors uncovered? Business process improvement will remain a top priority for CIOs, many of whom already consider it their most important responsibility. Service-oriented architecture will transform business technology across the nation—and the globe. New technologies will make securing the enterprise a greater challenge than ever before. And the lines between business and IT will blur even more rapidly as more IT executives are plucked from the business ranks.
But some of the world's leading IT experts had their own opinions on the coming year's biggest IT trends. Chuck Martin, chairman and CEO of Madbury, N.H.-based NFI Research, says the crossover between business and IT is the most important trend. "The biggest issue facing the majority of businesses in the next year is business growth," says Martin. "For the past few years, business efficiency has been king, but now companies are looking to grow. This means greater collaboration between business and IT will be necessary so that all parties can focus on how to achieve the desired growth."
Jerry Luftman, associate dean and distinguished professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology, agrees that IT-business alignment is a "pervasive leader," but argues that information governance is the most important trend. "One would hope it covers things such as having a formal process where IT and business executives work together to make IT decisions, apply portfolio assessments, and evaluate IT contributions to the business," he says.
Read the full story on CIOInsight.com: Experts Weigh In on 2007 IT Trends.
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