Report: 81% of IT leaders felt under-supported through pandemic

ManageEngine commissioned Vanson Bourne, an independent research agency, to conduct a global study of 3,300 decision-makers, including 500 in the U.S. and Canada, across IT and other key business functions. The goal was to examine IT’s empowerment and IT teams’ ability to influence and make business decisions.

In the past two years, IT departments were crucial to success as organizations struggled to adapt to remote work and accelerated digitalization. Many IT decision-makers (ITDMs) were given a seat at the executive table to help guide operations, as well as greater responsibility in the implementation and use of technology.

According to the study, titled “IT at Work: 2022 and Beyond,” 88% of business and technology leaders believe IT is more responsible for business innovation now than ever before. Moreover, 85% agree IT leaders could drive even greater innovation in the business if they had a stronger leadership position.

Business decision-makers state that their IT teams are consulted for advice most often on finance (53%), security (52%) and strategy (51%) decisions. A majority (76%) said their IT teams have complete or considerable authority to prevent business decisions based on security and technical concerns.

IT leaders: Increased responsibility not accompanied by increased support

However, increasing responsibility placed on IT teams has done little for their happiness. In fact, fewer than half (44%) of ITDMs feel as loyal to their employer as they did two years ago. In addition, almost half of all IT leaders would resign from their current organization if flexible work was no longer offered (48%) or if there was no potential to advance their careers (45%).

Beyond the pandemic, the threat of an economic recession may also factor into IT leaders’ decisions to leave their current roles. Nearly two-thirds of ITDMs (64%) are more concerned about losing their job than they were six months ago, while 43% said they would resign if they did not receive a pay increase in line with inflation. There are clear signs that increased use and significance of IT-department talent has not been accompanied by greater support or resourcing. In fact, 81% of IT leaders felt their organizations should have given them more support over the past two years.

The result is more stress and job dissatisfaction. Organizations urgently need to address this to avoid losing key talent and disrupting business operations.

Read the full report from ManageEngine.