April 2018 - Demand for IT capabilities continues to grow and diversify, while IT budgets remain relatively constant as a percent of revenue. In response, CIOs are working to shift dollars from running the business to growth and transformation initiatives by driving multi-faceted and multi-year IT practice process improvement programs.

This report covers the adoption rate and degree of planned expansion of both well-known and newly emerging IT practices. The challenges encountered and lessons learned are also discussed.

Key Points and Findings

• Talent and IT Operations remain the two most pressing concerns for CIOs. Finding and retaining the right resources to manage legacy environments is top of mind.
• Agile development practices have continued to expand and are now the top priority. Carriers have widely adopted Agile to ensure quick, responsive delivery of internal projects.
• Enterprise architecture and UX initiatives are also expanding. Carriers are addressing the challenges of integrating new core systems or new technologies into their technical environments, as well as meeting internal and external expectations for usability.
• No IT practice improvement efforts saw a decrease in activity. Carriers’ efforts held steady (when they weren’t expanding), indicating that activity from 2017 and earlier remains ongoing. Integrating IT practices isn’t an overnight process.