Most CIOs ill-equipped to handle digitisation challenges: Gartner

MUMBAI: Although a majority of chief information officers (CIOs) in India feel that digitisation throws up newer risks, they are ill-equipped to handle the challenges, a survey by global research firm Gartner said today.

"As many as 82 per cent of desi CIOs agree that embracing an expanding array of digital opportunities brings with it a set of new, higher-level risks that 70 per cent of respondents say the enterprise is ill-equipped to deal with," Gartner research head Partha Iyengar said.

He added that 85 per cent respondents, who handle a company's IT needs and are the interface between the vendors, believe that they need to improve enterprise agility to deal with these risks.

On the positive side for the industry, which has been impacted by various aspects like the currency volatilities and a slower-than-expected economic recovery, the survey said 74 per cent expect a surge in their IT budgets this year.

The report said it interviewed 2,810 respondents in 84 countries, and representing nearly $400 billion in IT budgets for the survey, but details of the Indian CIOs were not shared.

Establishing fundamental infrastructure and capabilities for the new requirements of digital business will be the key driver which will result in the expansion in budgets, Gartner said.

It added that CIOs will have to allocate a reasonable part of their budget growth to risk management initiatives where they are underinvested.