The importance of IT departments within companies will increase significantly in the next three years, especially in generating value and managing business processes, according to the annual “IT Management Study 2024”, conducted by Horváth management consulting company.

The main conclusion of the study is that the trend of transforming IT departments from simple support units into strategic business partners – which create value for the company – is constantly accelerating. While IT teams currently play an active role in business process management in 42% of companies, this percentage will increase to 57% by 2027.

Today, IT is considered a business partner by 18% of organizations, an “enabler” (facilitator in achieving objectives) and a business consultant in 24% of cases, but in the next three years it is estimated that it will become an innovation unit, generating added value, in 29% of companies. In the same period, the number of those who see IT only as a low-cost service provider (20% currently) is estimated to decrease to 8%.

Also, the role of IT in the creation of new products and services will increase significantly: (1) it will be involved in advising on the development of new products (+12%, reaching 40%) and (2) it will contribute to the development of marketable products (+13%, reaching 36%).

In parallel, IT’s role in delivering and managing IT systems will decline considerably, from 49% today to just 24% in the next three years.

This expansion of IT responsibilities is taking place in a challenging context: 83% of companies are forced to implement cost-cutting measures, and 70% of them expect a modest increase in IT budgets, between 1.6% and 3.4% per year. At the same time, spending on innovation, including artificial intelligence (+10%), is increasing.

“IT departments are faced with the challenge of doing more with less, while assuming a strategic role in the company. In order to cope with increasingly tight budgets and to decisively contribute to the creation of value in the company, IT must optimize itself, continue to automate and better leverage the potential of artificial intelligence. Otherwise, it will not be able to adequately support the innovations needed in the business. Therefore, IT must be radically rethought: what contributes to value creation, how production can be more cost-effective and what can be eliminated,” explains László Pálházi, Senior Project Manager, Horváth Romania.