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April 10, 2014

Change is "new norm" for IT in post-XP world

Change is "new norm" for IT in post-XP worldThere is widespread angst about the pace of change in information technology amongst IT decision makers, according to new research conducted by Camwood.

In the wake of recent migrations – including Windows XP – IT staff now see near constant change as the "new norm", according to Camwood's report, After the big XP migration: What now?.

Coping with the pace of change is the primary concern for many IT managers, it says. It found that 90% of IT decision makers believe that the pace of change in IT is accelerating, and that this presents a significant challenge. In addition, 72% find the pace of change "unsettling".

The report also found that 93% agree that a flexible IT infrastructure is key to their organisation's success, with 79% believing that failure to adapt would damage businesses. Respondents cited a number of key projects that called for a new flexibility, including big data projects (65%), cloud services (50%), compliance-related projects (44%) and Bring Your Own Device (41%).

Several factors are driving this change, say respondents – in particular the desire for remote working (cited by 51%) and the need for productivity gains (mentioned by 43%).

Over half of respondents said that IT departments will follow a centralised shared services approach within the next three years, with just 17% envisioning a decentralised approach. However, 69% said that the role of the IT manager may fundamentally change or even be eradicated in the next five years.

"The death knell of Windows XP probably marks the last great 'monolithic' migration event," said Adrian Foxall, CEO of Camwood. "The near future is basically going to be an accelerated version of what we've seen in the last couple of years. The new norm will be constant, successive change, due to ever-closer OS releases and rapidly changing IT strategies and delivery methods. IT departments must be quick to react to this brave new world."

Camwood's free white paper on the future of IT in business is available on their website.

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