Networking projects hard to predict

For over 12 months, wired and wireless networking projects have held the #1 spot in our IT Priorities rankings for IT projects currently underway, and those planned 12 and 24 months down the road. However, we noticed that IT managers have a tendency to overestimate the importance of and extent to which they’ll be implementing networking projects. There were 40% fewer actual networking initiatives than planned 12 months ago.  This was the largest negative gap between plans and implementations. The #1 technology solution that shifted the balance was wireless networks--60% fewer wireless projects actually happened. And 50% fewer VoIP projects were implemented. These shortfalls may reflect the shift that occurs when newer technologies grab the attention of planners but fall back into the pack as more basic needs have to be addressed in the here and now.

Another of the 9 major IT priorities that we track outstripped managers' plans in the opposite direction--there were 70% more IT management projects than planned 12 months earlier. The large jump in IT management projects is attributable to a few key areas: infrastructure management solutions, improving asset management, outsourcing, and strategic planning. The surge in IT management implementations suggests that IT managers have increasingly focused on improving performance and ROI while striving to keep IT fully aligned with the business.