New Protiviti Study Finds IT Execs View Security and Privacy, Cloud and Social Media as Top Priorities; Classifying data and managing vendors are also major concerns, according to results of Protiviti IT Survey
MENLO PARK, Calif. – Oct. 17, 2011 – New and complex information technology (IT) risks and changing business priorities challenge today’s IT leaders, according to a new survey from Protiviti (www.protiviti.com <http://www.protiviti.com> ), a global consulting firm. The results of the study reveal six areas of priority for CIOs and their organizations: information security and privacy; virtualization and cloud computing; social media integration; data classification and management; regulatory compliance; and vendor management.
Protiviti’s inaugural Information Technology Capabilities and Needs Survey (www.protiviti.com/ITsurvey <http://www.protiviti.com/ITsurvey> ) identified top areas of concern for IT leaders based on competencies they cited as most in need of improvement. More than 200 IT professionals – including chief information officers, chief technology officers, chief security officers, and IT vice presidents, directors and managers – participated in Protiviti’s study.
“With the rapid rise of technology in business operations during the past decade, IT departments have been called upon to deliver a much broader array of services and solutions for their companies,” said Kurt Underwood, managing director and head of Protiviti’s IT consulting practice. “Expectations continue to rise dramatically for the IT function to support new technologies, such as mobile devices and social media platforms that can be integrated with existing corporate systems, as well as the pervasive accumulation of sensitive data at multiple locations worldwide.”
Survey Insights
The Protiviti 2011 IT Capabilities and Needs Survey asked participants to assess their skills and professional development priorities through more than 100 questions covering three major categories: technical knowledge, process capabilities and organizational capabilities. Protiviti also offers insights about the areas that IT leaders expressed the most concerns about, including:
Survey respondents represented virtually all industry sectors, including financial services and insurance, manufacturing, healthcare, consumer products, energy, hospitality, retail, technology and utilities. More than half of the participants work for publicly traded companies; the others come from private, government and nonprofit organizations. Nearly two thirds of the survey respondents work for organizations with $1 billion or more in revenues, and the majority are located in North America.
To learn more or obtain a complimentary copy of the 2011 IT Capabilities and Needs Survey, visit: www.protiviti.com/ITsurvey <http://www.protiviti.com/ITsurvey> . Additionally, Protiviti is hosting a complimentary webinar about the study’s results on Oct. 25 at 11:00 a.m. PDT. To register, please visit: www.protiviti.com/webinars <http://www.protiviti.com/webinars> .