Unisys Research Shows Executives Overestimate Organizations’ Ability to Achieve Key Business and IT Goals

Their Information Technology from Economic and Operational Constraints

BLUE BELL, Pa.–(EMWNews)–Recently completed research from Unisys Corporation (NYSE:UIS),

involving 1,200 organizations worldwide, shows significant gaps between

executives’ business and IT goals and their

estimation of their organizations’ ability to

achieve those objectives. Those gaps indicate that executives are not

getting the most from their business initiatives and information

technology (IT) investments, and need new approaches to modernize their

business processes, strategic applications and IT infrastructures to

address their core business challenges.

To help executives close those critical gaps, Unisys today announced the

Unisys Modernization Benchmark service. Using trend information from the

Unisys research, this service helps organizations benchmark their

current business and IT operations against those of their peers and

competitors, exposing the gaps between their desired state and their

current readiness to achieve it. This enables executives to focus on

those gaps which are likeliest to have a major impact and identify the

business and technology initiatives in which they must invest –

and the ways they must manage those investments –

to gain the greatest business advantage in the shortest timeframe.

“Too many IT executives are in a budgetary

straitjacket imposed by constricted notions of how IT can support

business,” said Dominick Cavuoto, vice

president, Global Industries and Worldwide Strategic Services, Unisys. “They’re

spending 80 percent of their IT budget on infrastructure maintenance and

funding innovation only as an afterthought. These strictures have been

imposed largely by outmoded views of IT as a cost center, not an

investment. The Unisys Modernization Benchmark service helps executives

find fresh ways of thinking so they can free IT to enable breakthrough

performance gains with low-cost operating models that deliver maximum

return on investment.”

Research Reveals Fissures between Aspiration and Execution

The double-blind Unisys study, which provides baseline information for

the Unisys Modernization Benchmark, surveyed 1,200 business and IT

executives in organizations worldwide. When asked to state their most

important business objectives, the respondents to the Unisys study

uniformly placed priority on customer-focused and customer-dependent

goals, such as acquiring new customers, building closer relationships

with existing customers, developing new products and services, growing

sales and revenue and reaching new markets.

Those executive respondents identified 10 capabilities –

nearly all dealing with information and IT investments –

that they believed were critical to achieving those business objectives.

The capabilities included ability to support innovation, IT management

practices, strategic decision-making, approach to IT investment,

communications (information flow within and between organizations), IT

sourcing model and IT security model.

Each executive was asked to rate where their organization stands today

in capability to execute in each area and where they expect the

organization to be in the next three years. In each case executive

ratings indicated a significant gap between their current readiness and

expected performance. For example:

• 62 percent of respondents expect that they will encourage innovation

  or be market leaders at supporting it within three years. Yet 70

  percent say that currently they have no support for innovation, or

  their capability is only evolving or moderate;

• In describing IT management practices, 52 percent of respondents

  expect to treat IT as an investment or differentiator in three years,

  yet 72 percent say that they currently treat it as a support function,

  a means to enhance productivity or a capital expense;

• 67 percent of respondents expect to have integrated, collaborative

  communications with critical stakeholders within three years, yet only

  32 percent say they have such a capability now;

• While only 51 percent of respondents have a formal, mature IT sourcing

  strategy and model today, 75 percent expect to have one in three years;

• 60 percent of respondents currently rate their security model as

  non-existent, limited or moderate, yet 75 percent expect their

  security model to be state-of-the-art in three years.

Unisys Modernization Benchmark Service Designed to Bridge the Gap

“The research provides a valuable snapshot of

where organizations stand today relative to some significant areas of

business and IT management, and affords a valuable tool for other

businesses to assess their current states and aspirations,”

said Cavuoto. “Yet there is no guarantee that

those organizations will achieve their objectives as quickly and

comprehensively as they hope. We are offering the Unisys Modernization

Benchmark as a means to increase the chances of success for enterprise

clients. The service can help executives find a way to liberate their

business from the shackles of untested assumptions, reestablish their

priorities and free IT to take the business in a new direction.”

The Unisys Modernization Benchmark service is based on a workshop

approach. Unisys consultants help clients measure the organization’s

capabilities in six dimensions:

• Business Resilience – how an

  organization manages its processes, policies and systems –

  including IT – to provide security, privacy

  and business continuity;

• Collaborative Business – the

  availability and effectiveness of knowledge- and data-sharing within

  and between organizations;

• IT as a Business Enabler – how an

  organization views and manages IT – whether

  it treats it just as a cost center or as a strategic investment that

  can drive business innovation;

• Open Business and IT – an

  organization’s commitment to innovation and

  adaptability, including use of open standards and other technologies

  that enable suppliers and customers to access the organization’s

  systems and integrate theirs with it;

• Green Business – the efficient and

  ethical management and consumption of resources throughout the

  organization’s ecosystems, including

  suppliers and partners; and

• Business Execution – the degree to

  which the organization’s management can

  execute business and technology initiatives to drive overall business

  objectives.

By comparing the organization’s capabilities

and modernization progress in these critical areas to those of peers and

competitors, as well as to industry and market averages, executives can

re-evaluate the direction of their business and create a framework for

where and how operations must evolve to take the organization where it

needs to go.

The Unisys 3D Blueprinting approach can help clients execute their

modernization plan. This approach enables them to gain visibility into

the relationships between their business strategy, business processes,

applications and IT infrastructure. Applying the 3D Blueprinting

approach enables executives to create a plan for modernizing the

enterprise from business strategy through infrastructure. Using Unisys

modeling tools, the plan can be transformed into a high-impact solution

to dramatically enhance the client’s chances

for long-term success.

About the Research

Unisys commissioned strategic advisory firm Saugatuck Technology to

conduct the research in late 2007 and early 2008. The double-blind study

surveyed 1,200 business and IT executives in organizations worldwide.

The discussion focused on the enterprises’

business priorities and the capabilities they have today and those they

want to develop the most to support those key business objectives. For

the full results, see the report “Enterprise

Modernization: A Framework for Strategic Business Improvement.”

The report is available by registering at www.unisys.com/FreeIT

and accessing the “Insights”

section and then “Analyst Insights.”

About Unisys

Unisys is a worldwide information technology services and solutions

company. We provide consulting, systems integration, outsourcing and

infrastructure services, combined with powerful enterprise server

technology. We specialize in helping clients use information to create

efficient, secure business operations that allow them to achieve their

business goals. Our consultants and industry experts work with clients

to understand their business challenges and create greater visibility

into critical linkages throughout their operations. For more

information, visit www.unisys.com.

RELEASE NO.: 0716/8896

http://www.unisys.com/about__unisys/news_a_events/07168896.htm

Unisys is a registered trademark of Unisys Corporation. All other brands

and products referenced herein are acknowledged to be trademarks or

registered trademarks of their respective holders.

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