Winning Retailers See Greater Business Value for IT Than Peers, New Study Finds
RSR's latest benchmark survey, "IT and Business Alignment in Retail" finds that better-performing retailers do more to understand the business value of information technology, rather than look to IT solely for cost savings. However, while retailers that use IT strategically have the opportunity to turn technological advantage into real long term market gains, most survey respondents report a growing backlog of demand for IT services driven by lack of governance, tangled obsolete application portfolios, and siloed departments each clamoring for their own solutions.
Miami, FL (PRWEB) May 6, 2009 -- RSR's newest research study, "IT and Business Alignment in Retail," sponsored by Oracle and Borland, reveals a new twist on the decades-old conflict between business and IT. The study benchmarks retailers' challenges and opportunities around aligning IT and business objectives, with a view into the differences between better-performing retailers and their lagging peers.
In the past it was easy for business users to complain that their IT executives didn't understand the business, but RSR's latest research shows that the opposite is true today.
"Long-time retailers are familiar with the refrain that IT just doesn't understand the business," said Paula Rosenblum, managing partner at RSR Research and co-author of the report. "This report tells a very different story. Retail Winners distinguish themselves as having business users who understand the value of technology to support their business objectives, while laggards leave IT to fend for itself."
"It turns out that reporting structures really matter," added Brian Kilcourse, managing partner at RSR Research and co-author of the report. "Fifty-five percent of Retail Winner CIOs report to the CEO, vs. only 24% of laggards. While 98% of all our respondents indicate that reaching their corporate objectives is aided by or even dependent on effective IT value delivery, laggards consistently hamstring the IT function with poor governance practices that result in poor results."
RSR's new study, "IT and Business Alignment in Retail" explores the challenges retailers face in overcoming their legacy of homegrown, outdated application portfolios and shifting to drive real business value. The report, with benchmark data captured from February and March 2009, provides recommendations on how to improve IT value delivery, even in an economic downturn.
To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, click here or:
http://www.retailsystemsresearch.com/_document/summary/913
About Retail Systems Research
Retail Systems Research ("RSR") is the only research company run by retailers for the retail industry. RSR provides insight into business and technology challenges facing the extended retail industry, and thought leadership and advice on navigating these challenges for specific companies and the industry at large. To learn more about RSR, visit www.rsrresearch.com.
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