The IT Nerd

Nearly half of CIOs in Canada are heavily involved in defining new business models in their organizations, according to a survey conducted by Gartner, Inc. This is consistent with their top three priorities for 2019: revenue and growth, digital initiatives, and operational excellence.

Gartner analysts presented the survey findings during Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo, which is taking place here through Thursday. The 2019 Gartner CIO Agenda Survey gathered data from more than 3,000 CIO respondents in 89 countries and all major industries. In Canada, 176 CIO respondents were asked for their input.

Canadian IT Budget and Core Investments

Canada’s average IT budget jumped from 1.3% in 2018 to 2% in 2019, which was higher growth than the year prior. The global average IT budget experienced about a 3% increase.

Canada is increasing its spending in business intelligence and data analytics, cybersecurity, and cloud services. Yet artificial intelligence (AI) experienced a huge jump from last year. In the 2018 CIO Agenda Survey, only 2% of Canadian respondents planned to increase investment in AI. In 2019, that figure is 24%. “AI serves as a huge opportunity for Canadian CIOs,” said Mr. Howard.

Among the areas that Canadian organizations are decreasing their IT investments this year are infrastructure and data center, networking, voice and data communications, and custom software development. “Canadian CIOs are pruning commodity services that have evolved to surpass traditional, on-premises implementation,” said Mr. Howard.

The data analytics category has been the perennial top technology on the list of game-changer technologies, but this year, the AI/machine learning (ML) category has superseded it for Canadian and top-performing respondents alike. Data analytics and cloud were tied for second among game-changer technologies in Canadian organizations.

Strengthening Digital Maturity Among Canadian Organizations

Financial goals are a uniquely popular priority for Canadian CIOs, thus indicating a heightened degree of cost consciousness among organizations. At the same time, Canada has more structural and engrained leadership challenges compared with its global peers.

The 2019 Gartner CIO Agenda Survey was conducted online from April 17 through June 22, 2018 among Gartner Executive Program members and other CIOs. Qualified respondents are either the most senior IT leader (CIO) for their overall organization, or a part of their organization (for example, a business unit or region). The total sample was 3,102, with representation from all geographies and industry sectors (public and private).

About Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo

Learn more about CIO leadership and how to drive digital innovation to the core of your business at Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo 2019. Follow news and updates from the events on Twitter using #GartnerSYM.

Upcoming dates and locations for the 2019 Gartner IT Symposium/Xpo include:
September 16-18: Cape Town, South Africa
October 20-24: Orlando, Florida
October 28-31: Sao Paulo, Brazil
October 28-31: Gold Coast, Australia
November 3-7: Barcelona, Spain
November 11-14: Goa, India
November 12-14: Tokyo, Japan