Mid-sized companies lack IT plans

More than half of UK medium-sized businesses believe IT fails to provide value for money.

Technology is not being used as a strategic tool by medium-sized companies but is merely providing ad hoc support, according to research by Partners in IT.

And a significant amount of businesses quizzed (28 per cent) said they have no IT strategy at all, in the survey of 271 companies.

Another 29 per cent said they work with an informal loose plan, while 34 per cent admitted to just buying systems as they are needed.

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Only 18 per cent of respondents said they have a formal IT plan approved by the board and just 16 per cent said they plan their tech investment for the next three to five years.

As a result of this lack of planning, 35 per cent of all respondents said business growth is putting pressure on their existing IT systems.

Paul Cash, MD of Partners in IT, told silicon.com: "Some of the results are quite surprising. They [companies] have a focus on technology rather than the longer term view.

"There's often a disconnect between using IT to get the job done as opposed to using it for advantage."

He also suggested the launch of Itil 3 will prompt companies to make IT a more strategic part of their business but acknowledged many companies may not be particularly aware of it.

The lack of planning also impacts the quality of IT staff hired - with 66 per cent of respondents saying they don't have the best staff they can afford and 63 per cent saying staff are not proactive.

Research from the Economist Intelligence Unit and HP also finds European IT staff are more complacent than others when it comes to delivering projects on time as they feel their jobs are not in danger if they fail to do so.

In Europe, 51 per cent of those surveyed said they aren't at risk of losing their job if they fail to deliver a project on time, compared to 33 per cent in Asia and just 22 per cent in the Americas.