"Because of the way storage is packaged, businesses end up buying up to 75 per cent more capacity than they actually need" he said. "It's cheaper to simply buy more storage than to hire somebody to manage it, so an organisation's first response to a storage crisis will be to throw more storage at the problem."

Focus on ROA as well as ROI

"However, reduction should not be the only plan as maximising each dollar spent is equally important for ushering in positive changes," he said. "In these disruptive times, measuring ROI (Return on Investments) to gauge the savings achieved on the metrics mentioned is not enough and accurate since it is primarily based on new assets being purchased and doesn't take into account the existing assets that may be of value."

"CIOs need to measuring IT spend against business revenue trends and ratios by taking ROA (Return on Assets) into consideration is a more strategic approach as it considers the impact of an investment on the total asset base rather than a specific project," said Khoo. "Measuring ROA makes existing assets more efficient and productive and it is important, that IT organisations to develop a common set of metrics that allows companies to scrutinise a wider range of building blocks to help them to calculate their true ROA."