Public-sector IT bosses under more pressure to cut costs

Flexible working is seen as the main potential cost-saver in public sector IT

Public-sector IT managers are facing much more pressure to reduce cost and drive innovation than their private-sector peers, according to research.

Half of the public-sector IT leader polled by consultancy Centralis said they had been asked by senior management to help drive down costs, compared to less than a quarter in the private sector.

Introducing capabilities to support flexible working was cited by 56 per cent of those surveyed as a core focus for savings in public-sector IT and an area of work during 2009.

According to the research, other initiatives topping the agenda within public-sector IT are refreshing desktop or laptop estates, cited by 28 per cent of respondents, followed by upgrading operating systems (21 per cent), improving datacentre performance (18 per cent) and reviewing business continuity and disaster recovery systems (18 per cent).

“It comes as no surprise that the public sector now finds itself under pressure to reduce costs and IT spend is an obvious target for savings, but this can also be seen as an opportunity to invest in increased agility,” said Centralis managing director Ewen Anderson.

“Aligning IT capabilities with organisational goals such as shared services, business continuity and flexible working will deliver significant overall cost savings and help to meet a wide range of operational targets, not least those around carbon emission reductions as well,” he said.

The results are based on a survey conducted earlier this month involving 48 public-sector senior IT decision-makers and 51 respondents in the private sector.