Third Annual Software Adoption Research Study Reveals Breakthrough IT Leadership Practices for Maximizing Enterprise Software’s Value

In the Era of More with Less: A new, usage-driven approach to IT adoption leadership delivers material bottom-line impact

SAN FRANCISCO--()--Neochange, the market leader in enterprise IT adoption insights that make IT valuable, along with the IT Adoption Alliance, comprised of datango, iRise and Knoa Software, has released its 3rd annual Adoption Insight Report. The report, produced with the help of CIO Insight, focuses on the drivers and actions responsible for maximizing enterprise software adoption and value. As in prior years, it tracks the mix of software value barriers and the impact of effective usage rates on IT return on investment.

Conducted in the last quarter of 2010, the report’s survey was comprised of 204 individuals representing a cross-section of company sizes, respondent roles and industry verticals, ensuring a balanced viewpoint of the IT field.

Key findings include:

  • Although software benefits realization is still a significant challenge, 2010 marked the first year that organizations collectively achieved an average effective usage rate greater than 50%
  • Less than 10% of organizations can measure the impact of IT on business productivity
  • Application usability and relevancy is the No. 1 factor undermining software’s value
  • IT leadership and application requirement communications are significant leverage points for driving effective usage
  • Traditional end-user performance strategies are struggling to keep pace with dynamic business environments

“This year we confirmed just how critical IT leadership is for most organizations. We found that IT organizations leading the IT Value Assurance process achieve effective usage rates almost 150% greater than their ‘Order-Taking’ counterparts,” said Chris Dowse, CEO of Neochange. “This is a standout difference from previous years and for me brings into question the constant criticism of how IT organizations are blamed for most of the problems associated with IT projects.”

The report further identified the top adoption barriers to software value, with application relevancy/usability, end-user capabilities, IT availability, and IT/Business Management leadership all assessed. Unlike in prior years, application relevancy and usability was rated as the No. 1 factor to achieving software’s value.

“The findings in this latest report echo the sentiments of other IT project success studies, however I don’t believe anyone has revealed just how extensive and damaging requirement communication breakdowns are to adoption and value realization,” said Mitch Bishop, CMO at iRise.

Looking ahead, the majority of organizations (72%) intend to be selective in their upgrades and focus on getting more from their existing IT investments. This goal will be challenging for most organizations as more than 90% are unable to measure the current levels of value delivered through their application portfolio.

“By uncovering an effective usage rate that just tops 50%, this research helps illuminate the vital relationship between end-users' performance and business outcomes," said Lori Wizdo, vice president, marketing at Knoa. “A balanced performance management strategy, comprising both application and end-user performance management, is a key tool for the CIO who aims to transform IT from a focus on project outcomes to a focus on the business outcomes resulting from IT investments.”

The report also found that end-user performance strategies have struggled during the recession with most companies investing less than 5% of their application budgets on end-users. Help desk and new hire training have borne the majority of the workload in keeping end-users’ understanding of application capabilities and their usage current.

“While investment levels should be no surprise, I believe the report has uncovered a major opportunity for organizations to optimize their end-user investments. Companies that have transparency into the productivity barriers of all their end-users will deliver exceptional results and exceptional returns. This focus runs contrary to most companies’ current end-user strategy – it’s clearly time to change,” said Stephen Walsh, Chief Alliance Officer, datango.

Click here to download a free copy of the entire report.

About Knoa Software

Knoa Software is leading the transformation of IT Management with end-user management solutions that monitor, measure and manage how end-users are utilizing corporate software applications to optimize business process execution. Knoa customers not only know if core enterprise applications are delivering an acceptable user experience, but also, if application users are executing key processes effectively and efficiently – the key to achieving business value and ROI. Knoa is headquartered in New York, NY. For more information about Knoa, please visit www.knoa.com.

About Neochange

Neochange, since founding in 2000, has been making IT organizations valuable through IT adoption insights. Our AdoptIT™ solutions have impacted 1,000,000+ end-users delivering productivity improvements for companies such as Wells Fargo, Cisco and DirecTV. A recognized authority on enterprise IT adoption strategies, Neochange is also an advisory partner of the Technology Services Industry Association and has been retained by leading ISVs such as VMware, Salesforce.com and CA to improve customer value realization. For more information, visit www.neochange.com

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Contacts

PAN Communications
Mike Sullivan, 978-474-1900
Knoa@pancomm.com

Release Summary

In the Era of More with Less: A new, usage-driven approach to IT adoption leadership delivers material bottom-line impact

Contacts

PAN Communications
Mike Sullivan, 978-474-1900
Knoa@pancomm.com