Gartner weighs in on the state of IT

09.05.2006
Promising a reporter an exclusive is like dangling a sausage link in front of your dog. So of course when Gartner Fellow Ken McGee offered me an advance look at Gartner's presentation on the current state of IT -- to be unveiled at the Gartner Symposium ITxpo (http://www.gartner.com/it/sym/2006_/spg8/spg8_home.jsp) in San Francisco the week of May 15 -- I bit.

For the presentation, called the IT Scenario, Gartner gathers together its top analysts to explain where IT is now and where it is going. McGee will be the presenter. And despite a fairly robust economic outlook for business, he will say that IT is in deep trouble.

McGee will point to the disconnect between the robustness of the economy and four years of lackluster growth in IT budgets -- 2.7 percent growth this year. Compare that to a 6 percent increase in media advertising or a 10 percent increase in raw material purchases.

IT is essentially keeping the lights on but not demonstrating a compelling reason to be a strategic partner. Unless it can contribute, more senior executives will say, "We understand that we need IT but we don't see the need for you to deliver it."

If this trend continues much longer, "executives will be agnostic as far as where they obtain IT services," McGee says, adding that at the heart of the problem is a lack of innovation. "It is rare to find IT people working on something that has heretofore been untouched by IT."

If you don't believe it, McGee suggests you have a conversation with sales or marketing people. Ask them how much IT has helped them identify and close new business and they will laugh you out of the room.