Global IT and Finance Leaders Survey Finds Biggest Blocker to Innovation is Overspending on “Keeping the Lights On”

Business Wire India
Rimini Street, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMNI), a global provider of enterprise software products and services, and the leading third-party support provider for Oracle and SAP software products, revealed the results of a recently commissioned global survey to better understand the priorities and challenges IT and finance decision makers face when it comes to funding and investing in innovation. The survey, conducted by Vanson Bourne, a technology market research firm, and analyzed by llan Oshri, Professor of the Graduate School of Management, University of Auckland Business School, is based on responses from 900 CIOs, IT leaders and financial decision makers from a broad range of industries, located in North America, South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, and Asia-Pacific.
 

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180613005299/en/

 

A key finding of this research is that despite recognizing the importance of innovation and business transformation, IT and finance leaders face major roadblocks including “spending too much keeping the lights on” (77%), “lack of board support for significant investment in innovation” (76%), and being “locked in to vendor contracts that restrict innovation” (74%).
 

Balancing Innovation Spend with Maintaining Business Operations
 

While most organizations claim to have the drive and ambition to be an innovator, 71% of the global survey respondents indicated that their firms struggle to find budget for these initiatives. With shrinking to flat IT budgets, IT and finance decision makers are challenged to pursue and invest in growth strategies for their business, while balancing this directive with the significant budget required to maintain and run their current operations.
 

Getting the Board On Board
 

Also topping the list of obstacles faced by IT and finance leaders when seeking budget for transformational initiatives, 76% of respondents cited “lack of board support for significant investment in innovation.” While the survey confirms there is innovation leadership at the board level, half of the respondents also note that they failed to convince the board that investing in innovation was critical for the business.
 

There was also agreement among respondents that the board refrains from complex, transformation projects that integrate the entire IT infrastructure (64%), the board is more focused on cost-cutting than innovation (63%), and the board is not confident that the firm has the skills to meet innovation objectives (57%).
 

These board-level attitudes to investment in transformational projects create a major challenge for those forward-looking CIOs and IT and finance leaders focused on supporting the organization's growth and competitive edge.
 

So how do IT and finance leaders shift this board mindset to receive approval to move forward with their much needed business transformation initiatives?
 

llan Oshri, Professor of the Graduate School of Management, University of Auckland Business School, and author of the report, “IT Leaders Frustrated with Barriers to Innovation and Falling Behind,” based on the Vanson Bourne research data, said that investing in innovation requires an organizational culture that encourages taking risks and accepting failure in order to learn.
 

“Most companies are more comfortable producing predictable and reliable outcomes, and are less inclined to challenge accepted conventions within the business. This risk mitigation approach is embedded into their DNA,” said Oshri. “However, organizations that excel in innovation embrace a dual mentality that balances investments in uncertain, but transformative, innovation projects with a focus on operational excellence. This balance is extremely challenging, but essential, in order to succeed today and in the future.”
 

The Benefits and Demonstrable ROI from Investment in Innovation
 

Demonstrating “hard” ROI is essential to gaining the board’s support for innovation spend. Clearly evident in the survey data was the fact that a return on investment is the secret sauce to more spending on innovation. Over a third of respondents reported their organization has already generated increased revenues (37%) or reduced operating costs (35%) as a result of their investment in innovation. Those respondents also respectively report a 14% average increase in annual revenue and a 12% decrease on average in operating costs. Additionally, 83% of the respondents acknowledged a clear link between IT innovation and their competitive industry position. The question then remains, with these statistics, why did half of the respondents cite that they have not been able to convince the board of the critical need to invest in innovation initiatives?
 

The survey revealed that those respondents who stated they have already experienced increased revenues as a result of their organization’s investment in innovation are less worried about their innovation budget, and are more likely to be able to convince the board to further invest in innovation. The same group also reported that they have already experienced improved productivity (62%), increased customer satisfaction (60%), and greater competitiveness (53%) – all as a result of their innovation spend.
 

According to Dave Jackson, CIO of Welch’s, a $700 million processing and marketing subsidiary of the National Grape Cooperative, as the company recognized changes in consumer buying habits, their strategy shifted to IT cost containment to reinvest savings and resources in new marketing initiatives.
 

“Welch’s required a strategy that would support increased business functionality and innovation while reducing costs,” said Jackson. “We knew we needed to invest in the future and maximize our IT budget simultaneously, so we shifted budget by moving to a third-party support model and immediately saved approximately 70% of our annual maintenance and other associated costs. That has helped us further our IT strategy by innovating around the edges of our core ERP with cloud technologies.”
 

Mega Vendor Strategies Hinder Innovation
 

Many survey respondents cited concern about the over-reliance on their organization’s enterprise application software vendors. In addition to the 74% who stated that being “locked in to vendor contracts that restrict innovation” was an obstacle to innovation, 54% agreed that they are being pressured to adopt their organization’s vendor’s cloud strategy. Many respondents are also seeking clarity on the vendor’s cloud application roadmap.
 

Lack of innovation from the traditional software vendors, coupled with the pressure to respond to evolving business needs faster, is driving IT and finance leaders to look at new strategies to reallocate capital and resources to innovation and growth. This reality requires a significant rethinking of cost components and budget trade-offs, and exploring innovative options across the entire IT landscape including third-party support for their enterprise applications.
 

“This survey highlights that while CIOs and IT and finance decision makers understand the strategic value of investing in innovation and want to invest more to reap the many benefits cited, they continue to struggle to secure the funds needed to make these investments that are so critical to their business growth,” said Hari Candadai, group vice president, Global Product Marketing and Strategy. “We understand this push-pull dynamic, and are focused on helping our more than 1,580 clients today maximize the value of their enterprise software and liberate the considerable funds that are ‘hidden’ in their IT software support. This enables our clients to redirect these savings into business transformation projects which will not only help them maintain a competitive edge, but will also earn them additional merit with their CEO and board of directors for future innovation investment requests.”
 

To download an eBook summary of the survey, “The State of IT Innovation: Priorities and Challenges,” click here. To register for an upcoming webcast on this topic click here.
 

About Vanson Bourne
 

Vanson Bourne is an independent specialist in market research for the technology sector. Its reputation for robust and credible research-based analysis is founded upon rigorous research principles and an ability to seek the opinions of senior decision makers across technical and business functions, in all business sectors and all major markets. For more information, visit www.vansonbourne.com.
 

About Rimini Street, Inc.
 

Rimini Street, Inc. (Nasdaq: RMNI) is a global provider of enterprise software products and services, and the leading third-party support provider for Oracle and SAP software products. The company has redefined enterprise software support services since 2005 with an innovative, award-winning program that enables licensees of IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP and other enterprise software vendors to save up to 90 percent on total support costs. Clients can remain on their current software release without any required upgrades for a minimum of 15 years. Over 1,580 global Fortune 500, midmarket, public sector and other organizations from a broad range of industries currently rely on Rimini Street as their trusted, third-party support provider. To learn more, please visit https://www.riministreet.com/, follow @riministreet on Twitter and find Rimini Street on Facebook and LinkedIn. (C-RMNI)
 

Forward-Looking Statements
 

Certain statements included in this communication are not historical facts but are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements generally are accompanied by words such as “may,” “should,” “would,” “plan,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “seem,” “seek,” “continue,” “future,” “will,” “expect,” “outlook” or other similar words, phrases or expressions. These forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our second quarter and annual 2018 revenue guidance, industry, future events, future opportunities and growth initiatives, hiring plans, estimates of Rimini Street’s total addressable market, and projections of customer savings. These statements are based on various assumptions and on the current expectations of management and are not predictions of actual performance, nor are these statements of historical facts. These statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties regarding Rimini Street’s business, and actual results may differ materially. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, changes in the business environment in which Rimini Street operates, including inflation and interest rates, and general financial, economic, regulatory and political conditions affecting the industry in which Rimini Street operates; adverse litigation developments or government inquiry; the final amount and timing of any refunds from Oracle related to our litigation; our ability to refinance existing debt on favorable terms; changes in taxes, laws and regulations; competitive product and pricing activity; difficulties of managing growth profitably; the success of our recently introduced products and services, including Rimini Street Mobility, Rimini Street Analytics, Rimini Street Advanced Database Security, and services for Salesforce Sales Cloud and Service Cloud products; the loss of one or more members of Rimini Street’s management team; uncertainty as to the long-term value of RMNI common stock; and those discussed under the heading “Risk Factors” in Rimini Street’s Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 15, 2018, as updated from time to time by Rimini Street’s Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other filings by Rimini Street with the Securities and Exchange Commission. There may be additional risks that Rimini Street presently knows or that Rimini Street currently believes are immaterial that could also cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements provide Rimini Street’s expectations, plans or forecasts of future events and views as of the date of this communication. Rimini Street anticipates that subsequent events and developments will cause Rimini Street’s assessments to change. However, while Rimini Street may elect to update these forward-looking statements at some point in the future, Rimini Street specifically disclaims any obligation to do so, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements should not be relied upon as representing Rimini Street’s assessments as of any date subsequent to the date of this communication.
 

© 2018 Rimini Street, Inc. All rights reserved. “Rimini Street” is a registered trademark of Rimini Street, Inc. in the United States and other countries, and Rimini Street, the Rimini Street logo, and combinations thereof, and other marks marked by TM are trademarks of Rimini Street, Inc. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners, and unless otherwise specified, Rimini Street claims no affiliation, endorsement, or association with any such trademark holder or other companies referenced herein.
 

 

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180613005299/en/

MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE :
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180613005299/en/