Businesses want simpler IT systems

Almost two-thirds of businesses are planning to simplify their existing IT systems, research shows.

Some 61 per cent of IT managers want to reduce the number of vendors, operating systems and types of hardware they use, citing maintenance costs and inflexibility as the main reasons for change, according to a report from BT published this week.

Between 70 and 80 per cent of IT budgets are spent on maintaining existing systems, and business flexibility is being severely hampered by legacy networks and applications sewn together by middleware and patches, says the survey of 455 IT and business managers.

The report, conducted by The Bathwick Group, also says procurement processes, lack of IT standards and the need for bespoke solutions have left most companies locked into costly and complicated multi-vendor environments.

Some 77 per cent of respondents admit that individual IT projects, mergers and acquisitions, and departmental spending independence has led to poor integration of technology systems across the business.

IT complexities are also hindering business decisions, with 52 per cent of respondents saying they are unable to access information added to core systems on the same day.

Some 25 per cent of firms also expect the cost of maintaining legacy systems to rise by 10 per cent over the next year.