New EMA Research Points To Continued Growth For IT Service Management (ITSM) Initiatives In 2009

CIOs will advance ITSM programs to better align IT with business drivers

BOULDER, Colo., Jan. 7, 2009 – Enterprise Management Associates (EMA), a leading IT management research and consulting firm, today announced the release of its latest research paper titled, “2009 Trends and Best Practices Advice for ITSM Technologies and Processes.” For this report, the firm surveyed 143 IT professionals to uncover success factors and pitfalls of ITSM initiatives and recommended best practices based on real-world deployments. Despite the unsteady economy, the report reveals that 87 percent of IT professionals are planning strategic, enterprise-level ITSM programs with the support of senior management. EMA will host a free Webinar on January 8, 2009 at 1 p.m. EST to share highlights from this study (see link below).  

“The coming year will certainly be a critical, pivotal year for IT executives,” said Chris Matney, EMA consulting director and study leader. “Fiscal pragmatism will be weighed against the increasing challenges of IT, and IT leaders must carefully balance both. Successful CIOs will continue to advance ITSM maturity while closely watching business drivers and the corporate balance sheet.”

According to the survey, mid-size companies showed the highest levels of ITSM adoption. Smaller companies typically rely on traditional service/help desk implementations, while the largest enterprises continue to work through the challenges of complexity and scalability. Most companies are in a transition phase with their ITSM maturity, between an “active” and a “proactive” approach. EMA believes that the most successful companies will push through the economic recession with IT advancements and investment, while unsuccessful organizations will adopt a more passive “business as usual” approach. Additional key findings from the survey include:

* IT budgets are not in a total free-fall, but a growing number of IT organizations are cutting budgets by 10 to 25 percent
* Change management was the most important ITSM initiative for companies of all sizes, followed by the other ITIL service support disciplines.
* Only three percent of respondents reported that all ITSM initiatives have been completed, and 80 percent said some have been finished
* 74 percent of respondents place primary responsibility for strategic ITSM planning on C-level executives, IT vice presidents and IT directors.
* 67 percent of respondents are not planning to replace their ITSM tools. For those that are, functionality limitations are the primary drivers for mid-sized companies and lack of scalability is the motivation for enterprise organizations.
* ITIL is the biggest area of investment for advancing the adoption of ITSM best practices, with 62 percent of companies expecting to undertake training in 2009.

As far as a timeline, EMA believes short-term projects will gain favor in 2009 due to long-term budget uncertainties. Most ROI break-even expectations for ITSM projects are between six and 18 months. Suggested best practices recommended from survey respondents included creating an incremental ITSM plan and securing executive and business support early in the process.

Follow the link to sign up for the free Webinar on January 8 titled, “Make the Most of ITSM in 2009: Best-Practice Advice from Your Peers.”
 
To purchase a copy of this research report, please click here.


About Enterprise Management Associates
Founded in 1996, Enterprise Management Associates (EMA) is a leading industry analyst and consulting firm dedicated to the IT management market. The firm provides IT vendors and enterprise IT professionals with objective insight into the real-world business value of long-established and emerging technologies, ranging from security, storage and IT Service Management (ITSM) to the Configuration Management Database (CMDB), virtualization and service-oriented architecture (SOA). Even with its rapid growth, EMA has never lost sight of the client, and continues to offer personalized support and convenient access to its analysts. For more information on the firm’s extensive library of IT management research, free online IT Management Solutions Center and IT consulting offerings, visit www.www.enterprisemanagement.com.