Global Survey of CEOs and CIOs Shows Staffing Problems and Inadequate Skills are Biggest Problem

Rolling Meadows, IL, - A new worldwide survey of CEO-/CIO-level executives commissioned by the nonprofit, independent IT Governance Institute (ITGI) has found that more than one-third (38%) of CEOs and CIOs worldwide point to problems relating to staff with inadequate skills while 58 percent say that insufficient number of staff remains the most common problem experienced in the last 12 months, compared to 35 percent in a similar survey conducted in 2005. In addition, 48 percent said that IT service delivery problems remain the second most common problem.

ìDespite recent economic news and employee layoffs, we are seeing an increased demand for qualified information technology professionals throughout the industry,î said Lynn Lawton, CISA, FCA, FIIA, PIIA, FBCS CITP, international president of ITGI. ìWithout a well-trained, fully staffed IT department, the bottom line is that many organizations around the world are needlessly sacrificing money, productivity and competitive advantage. Executives need to direct their IT for optimal advantage, reduce IT-related risks and measure the value provided by IT.î

ITGI commissioned a global survey of 749 CEO-/CIO-level executives in 23 countries to determine executivesí IT governance priorities and IT-related problems their organizations have faced. The IT Governance Global Status Report 2008 is available as a complimentary download at www.itgi.org.

The study is a follow-up to ITGIís 2003 and 2005 surveys and tracks IT governance trends over the past four years. Several important business developments relating to IT are identified in the report, including:

93 percent of respondents said that IT is somewhat to very important to the overall corporate strategyóan increase of 6 percent from 2005

IT is always on the board agenda, according to 32 percent of respondentsóup from 25 percent in 2005

18 percent of respondents said the IT department always informs the business about potential business opportunities, up from 14 percent in 2005

Awareness of the Control Objectives for Information and related Technology (COBIT) framework for IT governance has surpassed 50 percent, nearly doubling since 2005

Use of COBIT has nearly doubled (from 8 percent in 2005 to 16 percent)

Areas for improvement include alignmentó36 percent of respondents reported that alignment between IT strategy and corporate strategy is average, poor or very poor. Additionally, implementation of IT governance-related activities varies around the globe. The percentage of organizations that are in the process of implementing or have already implemented IT governance practices in different regions are:

South America, 27 percent

Asia, 44 percent

Europe, 50 percent

North America, 50 percent