IT managers' focus to shift towards data management

David Bicknell

29 days ago 0 Comments

A recent article in the UK magazine Information Age has put the spotlight on IT managers' stewardship of data.

It argues that a new focus on data management could mean less of a concentration on the delivery of applications as business units start to achieve more control over their own devices. It suggests that "..it has always been part of the IT department’s remit to maintain the quality, availability and utility of data. But as the responsibility for procuring applications is devolved to business units and users achieve greater autonomy over their devices, managing data is arguably becoming IT’s primary role."

The article quotes a recent report by research firm the Corporate Executive Board which found that in 2012, CIOs intend to spend 39% of their IT budget on information management (up from 36% last year) compared with 32% on business process automation. Until 2011, automation had always taken the greater share of the budget that information management.

The problem for IT managers, as the article points out, is that despite the evident benefits of good data governance, it may be a challenge to gain funding for large-scale, multi-year data management projects, which suggests the creation of smaller projects with short-term benefits and lower costs.

I'd be very interested in your thoughts on how you see priorities changing in the IT manager's role. Please comment with your views.

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