CIOs fighting back against shadow IT

Shadow IT continues to be a growing challenge for CIOs, who are increasingly being left out of the IT purchasing loop – but CIOs are fighting back, transforming to become internal service providers.

Logicalis' third annual Global CIO survey found 90% of CIOs are now by-passed by line of business at least occasionally, with 31% of the 420 global CIOs saying they are routinely sidelined when it comes to making IT purchasing decisions.

But while CIOs may feel they're being sidelined, they're not taking it lying down with 42% saying they are now actively embracing a new internal service provider model in an attempt to stay relevant to line of business.

Basil Reilly, Logicalis Australia chief executive, says CIOs are gradually losing the battle to retain the balance of power in IT decision making.

"Many are forced to re-align their IT strategy to better serve the needs of their line of business colleagues, and transforming IT to become the first choice for all IT service provision," Reilly says.

He says the threat from line of business driven IT choices is forcing CIOs to re-align their IT strategy to better serve the needs of their line of business colleagues, and transforming IT to become the first choice for all IT service provision.

CIOs are seeking to transform IT departments into internal service providers – lean organisations managing service portfolios, not technology, and able to respond quickly to line of business demand.

Thirty-eight per cent of the survey respondents said they were freeing themselves from the day to day operational tasks, with 38% now spending at least 50% of their time on strategic activities.

Logicalis says the survey shows CIOs worldwide are now spending almost half of their time (42%) developing and delivering the internal service provider model – 'engaging with line of business' and 'scoping and provisioning new IT services'.

An increased focus on service provision is also reflected in CIOs' responses around the balance of IT department activities, which suggest a 50:50 balance between technology management and the delivery of a portfolio of services.  Around half of CIOs (47%) report that at least 30% of their IT is provided by external service providers.

"It is clear that CIOs are seeking to regain control by establishing 'internal service providers' capable of delivering the choice of services their organisation needs – whether those services are built and operated internally,  sourced from managed service partners or are consumed from the cloud," Reilly says.