Businesses in Canada optimistic about implementation of IT, new study reports

Information technology managers across the country are feeling much more hopeful than last year, but security measures are becoming an increasingly important factor, a new study finds. The second annual Canadian IT Issues Study was released mid-month by Athabasca University and CIO Canada magazine. A total of 2,823 IT managers and professionals were surveyed in November of last year. Their answers showed a greater faith in managing IT products and the change that evolves from such technology. "It’s gone from 37 per cent of people believing last year that their organizations had difficulty in managing IT-related change and 27 per cent expressing some confidence in it, to this year being 38 per cent having confidence and 27 per cent expressing difficulties in managing IT-related change," notes Peter Carr, associate director of the University’s Centre for Innovative Management. "And that’s a big change over the course of one year and allows us to say that organizations are more optimistic about what they do with technology than they were otherwise." Slightly more than a third of respondents said they expect their IT budget to increase next year, with a further 42 per cent predicting the budget will remain static. Organizations surveyed have implemented enterprise application integration (35 per cent), enterprise resource planning (32 per cent), and customer relationship management (30 per cent). The vast majority of respondents, 81 per cent, think security and privacy audits are vital tools. According to 68 per cent of those polled, their company’s senior management treats employee and customer privacy as serious issues. But one-third reported that workers in their organizations ignore the security systems because they are too cumbersome. Thirteen per cent believe their bosses are secretly monitoring their email. Carr thinks the renewed emphasis on safety measures is part of an ongoing development. "The current interest in security is perhaps to some degree sparked by Sept. 11 but I think its persistence is something that’s based on the reality of the vulnerability that organizations have with their technology at the moment," he tells Network Letter. "It’s a very serious area if we’re seeing the level of break-ins that we seem to be seeing." Also disturbing was the high rate of "IT rage" cited by survey respondents. Ten per cent of those polled reported that verbal aggression, sabotage, and extreme hostility related to IT are on the rise. The number of respondents to the survey was down slightly from those who participated in the inaugural poll last year (NL, Jan. 29/01). The participants were overwhelmingly male (83 per cent) and between the ages of 30 and 49 (67 per cent). Over a third of respondents were from Toronto, with 10 per cent hailing from Vancouver. Other cities posted single-digit responses.

Businesses in Canada optimistic about implementation of IT, new study reports

News | January 29, 2002

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us

Businesses in Canada optimistic about implementation of IT, new study reports

News | January 29, 2002

Unlock all the Canadian telecom, broadcasting and digital media news you need.

FREE TRIAL

SUBSCRIBE

Rogers revenue lifts up, adjusted profit down in Q3

CRTC considers requiring service providers make customers aware of complaints body more quickly

UPDATED: Bell looking at ‘streamlining’ its brands, with focus on internet & mobility bundling under Bell name

Inside The Wire Report

Information

Hill Times Publishing

Get in Touch With Us