Empowering IT innovation: three steps to unlocking time for planning and strategy

Ever wanted to step back and plan for the future, but didn’t have the time?

If you’re an IT decision maker (ITDM), the answer is probably yes. In our latest research report, we surveyed over 1,700 ITDMs across Europe about their experiences during the last few years – and their priorities for the years ahead.

One key finding was that ITDMs are busier than ever. In fact, they’re spending on average 7% more time on their responsibilities than at the height of the pandemic in 2021. Amid all these demands on their time, it’s easy to deprioritise more strategic planning. How does the research suggest IT leaders free up their time?

Strategy and planning are among the highest value responsibilities for any IT leader, but it’s been challenging for them to spare the time for it in recent years. In 2019, planning and strategy took up the second largest chunk of their time, but by 2021 it had fallen to the third last priority.

By the end of 2023, it was positive to see that strategy had risen back to fourth place – and this was reflected in ITDMs’ innovation plans. ITDMs said they were looking seriously at technology like automation and AI. While this was likely driven by organisational needs, it also seemed to be part of a drive by ITDMs to get more time back, allowing them to really concentrate on work that matters to them. For example, 51% said one of the attractions of adopting automation is that it would allow them to personally focus on more strategic work.

The problem is, implementing new innovation itself takes time, and time is exactly what they don’t have. In fact, when asked about their investment priorities, ITDMs often said they were so busy resolving everyday issues that they couldn’t look closely at adopting technologies like AI: ITDMs who spend more time on with areas such as information security and device maintenance are 10% less likely to be investing in AI – even though AI may well support them with some of these tasks.

How can ITDMs do more with their time and open up space for innovation? Read on for our three top tips.

Our research highlighted that device issues are a recurring challenge for ITDMs. 38% reported that troubleshooting device faults still takes up a significant amount of their time. For IT leaders and their teams, dealing with unreliable hardware puts them on the back foot, taking their attention away from strategy and innovation.

By selecting hardware with a proven track record of reliability, ITDMs can spend less time fixing and replacing devices and more time on long-term planning. This approach not only delivers benefits for their own teams – it improves productivity throughout the entire organisation due to less downtime.

IT teams carry out regular servicing on devices throughout their life so that they perform at their best. But while some ITDMs might have brought servicing in-house to save money, that is likely to mean trading valuable time within their IT teams.

Servicing involves significant levels of organisation. IT teams need to minimise disruption, schedule accordingly, order in the right parts in good time and resolve any errors or issues that occur. The research reflected that this ongoing support isn’t just time-consuming, it’s also hard work: 24% of ITDMs listed maintaining hardware as challenging.

Fortunately, servicing models have evolved significantly in recent years. Leading hardware providers often include attractive servicing options, even with the capability to move towards fully managed packages if needed.

The rapid shift towards hybrid working has led ITDMs to invest in new collaboration tools. But investing in many new technologies in a short space of time can lead to organisations’ IT infrastructures becoming more complex and fragmented.

With each extra layer of technology, there’s integration with legacy systems to consider. Our research indicated that ITDMs are keenly aware of this. When asked how they plan to improve hybrid working in their organisation, the number one priority was better integration with office infrastructure and platforms.

We can also see that IT decision makers are concerned about the complexity of their current ecosystem based on their procurement focuses for the next three years. 34% of ITDMs said their priority was to streamline or consolidate their existing IT estate. Taken together, it’s clear that ongoing complexity and integration issues are a major concern for IT leaders, and may even deter further innovation.

When asked about what really matters to them when weighing up a new purchase, it wasn’t cost or quality that ITDMs considered the most important factor – it was compatibility. Taking care of complex, ongoing compatibility challenges is not a good use of IT teams’ time compared to strategic planning. If they are taking a risk and investing in innovation, ITDMs need to know new technology will complement their existing setup – and future additions as well – without needing constant work from the IT team.