Simplifying IT helps drive better business results

Analyzed companies achieved around US$ 83 million in annual benefits

 
IT complexity leads to lower profits and hinders the organization's ability to innovate and grow, as revealed by an IDC study "Simplifying IT to Drive Better Business Outcomes and Improved ROI", sponsored by Oracle, which describes the challenges generated by the complexity of IT in today's organizations.
 
Among study participants, companies that reduced IT complexity were able to achieve average annual benefits of US$ 83 million, in addition to other advantages such as accelerated time to market, improved customer service and the ability to reallocate the IT staff for more strategic projects.
 
For the IT area, complexity leads to increased operating costs and reduced staff productivity and ability to deliver high service levels. For businesses, the consequences are lower profits and reduced innovation, customer and user satisfaction, and competitive advantage.
 
Participating companies located in the United States, Europe and Latin America achieved annual benefits of US$ 3,610 per user as a result of IT simplification initiatives. The typical enterprise included in the survey has around 23,000 IT users, making a total benefit of US$ 83 million.
 
The study also points out that IT simplification generates several non-financial benefits, such as improving user productivity and customer experience and accelerating time to market.
 
Efforts to streamline IT have included migrating to the cloud, investing in Engineered Systems, replacing outdated systems with modern applications, and other steps. Most participating organizations found that effectively simplifying IT requires replacing obsolete infrastructure with a simpler, consolidated, modern foundation that is prepared to meet current demands.
  
Methodology
 
Oracle commissioned the survey from IDC in 2014 to analyze the current degree of complexity in IT environments and the benefits associated with simplifying those environments. The results were based on interviews with senior-level business and IT executives at nine different companies, operating in a variety of industries—from financial services, e-commerce, healthcare, life sciences, to the public sector. Interviews were conducted with professionals from various geographic regions, such as the United States, Europe and Latin America.