vCom Solutions, a leader in IT spend and lifecycle management software and managed services, today released its first IT Spend Management Benchmark Report, based on the results of a survey of 175 mid-market organizations. Among other areas, the report brings attention to the nine phases of the IT lifecycle and how these areas rank in importance to IT and finance professionals. Asset Management — the creation, maintenance, and management of the physical, financial, and contractual IT inventory — was identified as the leading area of concern. The report further cites vendor selection (Sourcing) and IT planning and technology architecture design (Solution Design) as key challenges.
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The report also reveals that when asked to rank their IT focus over a 12-24 month period, IT management identified Mobile, SaaS, and Collaboration — areas which have seen significant increases in demand as a result of the global shift to managing a distributed workforce — as their top three areas of concern.
The organization partnered with the consulting and strategy firm Amalgam Insights for analysis of the results.
“We asked a number of straightforward questions so we could better understand the focus of CIOs and IT management over the next few years,” said Gary Storm, vCom President & CEO. “Some of the answers were expected; for instance, we know that mobility continues to challenge IT teams. What was surprising was the lack of outliers among the nine phases of the IT lifecycle—there was little room between the phase ranked most important versus least important. That clearly illustrates a need for organizations to manage their IT spend from a holistic perspective and treat it as a single entity.”
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