Study reveals application divide

The study – How to Survive and Thrive in the Application Economy – analyzes results from a survey of 1,450 senior business leaders across 13 countries.
These “Leaders” overwhelmingly realize that software and application development is core to their future success. In fact, the study found that over 50 percent of companies surveyed either have made, or will make in the next year, an acquisition specifically to add talent and strengthen their development capabilities.
In addition to revenue growth, “Leaders,” as identified in the study, are experiencing 68 percent higher profit growth and are seeing more than 50 percent new business growth from new products and services.

Among the specific investments being made by “Leaders,” the study uncovered the following, as represented in this infographic:
· Innovation is at the core of their success: almost half (49 percent) of the “Leaders” have adopted DevOps methodologies and technologies to speed application delivery, versus only 6 percent of the “Laggards.”
· Security is seen as a business enabler – not as a roadblock to growth: 47 percent of “Leaders” are experiencing increased revenue from new services enabled by security. In fact, the study predicts that one-quarter of all IT spending will be devoted to security over the next three years.
· “Leaders” are embracing technology as a business enabler, deploying software to manage their IT investments more strategically and aligned with business goals.
· A key driver of success for “Leaders” is the adoption of mobility as an enterprise-wide strategy, with clear evidence of increased customer satisfaction and faster time-to-market.

“There is clear evidence that enterprises of all sizes, in all markets, have to embrace the application economy and place software development and delivery at the center of their business strategy,” said John Michelsen, chief technology officer, CA Technologies. “Business success is tied to application performance, and the ability of a business to drive growth is no longer just about the product or service they deliver, but increasingly about a complete software-driven experience.”

Additional findings of the study include:
· Enterprises responding to the rapid changes brought about by the accelerating application economy are bringing more software development back in-house (from 33 percent to 44 percent).
· 94 percent of Line of Business (LOB) executives are facing increased pressure to release applications more quickly to satisfy consumer demand, with 51 percent of businesses surveyed having released at least four customer-facing applications in the last year alone.
· Despite this rate of application delivery, only 15 percent of LOB executives are completely satisfied with IT’s speed in delivering new applications or services.
· As a result, 88 percent of enterprises surveyed are planning to adopt DevOps to increase application delivery.
· Businesses face internal obstacles in addressing the application economy
o 25 percent of the senior IT leaders surveyed said that there was a lack of understanding of the impact and benefits of the application economy at the senior level.
o 26 percent said there was a lack of knowledge and skills.
o 24 percent said that there were cultural issues.