Confidence for 2018

The positive trend in IT spending over the past 24 months is likely to continue in 2018. This is shown by the published results of Capgemini's annual IT Trends Study.

This year, 121 IT managers from large companies in Germany, Austria and Switzerland took part. Of the participant group, which is one of the 500 largest companies in the German-speaking world, a strikingly large number expect higher IT budgets in 2018 (48.9 percent).

These IT managers are even more positive about the situation in 2019: around a third (34.4 percent) expect budget growth in the single-digit range, and a further quarter (25 percent) even anticipate an increase of more than ten percent.

"Internationally active companies are increasingly competing with technology companies from outside the industry. These are setting new standards in many digital areas, such as customer service.

In order not to miss the boat with the world leaders and to maintain their competitive position, groups must now achieve results quickly and thus also invest in their technology."

Dr. Uwe Dumslaff, Chief Technology Officer at Capgemini in Germany, explains the results.

Industry increases IT budgets more than financial sector

Financial services providers are now continuing the investment course they embarked on three years ago at a somewhat more moderate level, while IT budgets in the automotive sector are rising sharply.

Other companies in the manufacturing industry are seeing the highest budget increases in percentage terms, with more than 80 percent of CIOs surveyed expecting higher investments in both 2018 and 2019.

"In the industry as a whole, the main focus now is on developing new innovative products and services as a result of digitization, and on increasing end-customer satisfaction.

In addition, automotive manufacturers are looking to further develop agility and flexibility, while the other manufacturing industries are addressing operational efficiency. For both, it now seems clear where the journey is heading and which innovations are to be brought to market"

comments Thomas Heimann, Principal Enterprise Architect at Capgemini & co-author of the IT Trends study.

A question of funders

In the opinion of CIOs and IT managers, the IT side finances the lion's share of innovation projects in the company, accounting for two-thirds (66.7 percent). The business side only provides the money for around one-third of the projects.

However, the situation varies greatly from industry to industry: while in the automotive sector around 54 percent of projects are paid for by the specialist side, the figure for other companies in the manufacturing industry is only around 26 percent.

As a rule, the main donor has a major influence on the implementation of innovation projects. However, the attitude of "who pays, decides" is more pronounced in insurance companies, banks and financial service providers, and in the automotive industry than in other companies in the manufacturing industry, for example.

"The business and IT departments should always cooperate closely on innovation projects, especially since technological aspects are playing an increasingly important role as digitization increases."

explains Uwe Dumslaff.

However, most companies are still a long way from working in partnership. Only just under a quarter of the CIOs surveyed said they always work together with the business department on an equal footing, regardless of who is financing the project.