Fit enterprises will win when business conditions turn: Gartner

US-based consulting services and research company Gartner said 90% of enterprises have experienced a turn that upset normal operations in the past four years and only a quarter of enterprises are fit enough to come out ahead of the turn.

The study was presented during the Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo in Florida recently. It separated CIO respondents’ enterprises into two groups, fit and fragile, depending on how they fared in their last turns.

Fit enterprises emerged from their turns stronger in capabilities such as funding business initiatives and attracting the right talent while fragile enterprises emerged less capable in these areas.  

Fit enterprises, on an average, increased revenue by 5% per annum over the past three years, faster than the 3.5% per annum revenue increase for their fragile peers.

"Fit leaders actively search for emerging trends or situations that require a change and then leverage the IT organisation as an instrument to navigate that change accordingly. Enterprises that want to become fit should focus on aligning, anticipating and adapting to dynamic business scenarios," the study said.

Analysts suggest providing clear and effective leadership is one of the key areas on which organisations can stay together while shifting to a new direction during a crisis situation. Nearly half of fit survey respondents rated their leaders as very effective on accurately communicating business needs to IT compared with only 30% of fragile survey respondents.

The study also highlighted that fit enterprises are also more likely to have disciplined IT investment, a clear vision, consistent overall strategy and a strong CIO/CEO relationship.

“A big takeaway for CIOs is that fit enterprises increasingly view IT as a point of leverage for the business,” said Andy Rowsell-Jones, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. 

“Having a clear and consistent overall business strategy ranks as one of the most distinctive traits of fit enterprises. In such organisations, digital technology will drive that strategy,” he added.

The study gathered data from more than 1,000 CIO respondents in 64 countries and all major industries, representing approximately $3.5 trillion in revenue/public sector budgets and $67.5 billion in IT spending.