A peek inside mid mkt CIO wallet

NEW DELHI, INDIA: In a new Forrester Research report, Manish Bahl, Vice President and Country Manager for India, highlights the top five midmarket hotspots and mobility, cloud, security, analytics and Big Data are part of this list.

He observes that mobile apps built on systems of engagement are becoming a critical channel for firms to engage with employees, partners, and customers and also that thirty per cent of firms plan to implement analytics-as-a-service sometime beyond the next 12 months.

With analytics as one of the top technology priorities, it makes perfect sense for midmarket CIOs to look for cloud-based solutions to reduce costs, while ensuring that the organization meets its business goals.

As to Security, from a purely IT perspective, security - especially data security and customer data breaches - is no longer restricted to large enterprises. A very healthy 67 per cent of midmarket firms identified "significantly upgrading the security environment" as a critical or high IT priority over the next 12 months. Midmarket firms increasingly rely on analytics and decision support tools - cited by 64 per cent of respondents as a critical or high priority - to obtain better metrics from their current systems and make timely and informed decisions to deliver better business outcomes.

Forrester research shows that 32 per cent of Indian midmarket firms plan to invest in big data technologies and solutions in the coming one to two years. Many of them expect this investment to reduce costs (30 per cent) and optimize asset utilization (25 per cent). Moreover, only eight per cent of midmarket CIOs who plan to invest in big data have a projected or proven ROI for their big datainvestments - showing that many Indian organizations are getting caught up in the big data hype.

Amoing other key findings from the report, Microsoft, Cisco, and IBM Have the highest midmarket favorability In India. Global technology vendors dominate midmarket segment favorability, but their continuing strength will depend on their ability to innovate. CIOs are increasingly willing to risk partnering with new and emerging players in the market, especially those that demonstrate a strong understanding of changing technology and business needs.

The rapid rise and pervasiveness of social media, the cloud, and mobility in India are having a significant impact on Indian midmarket firms. Today, midmarket CIOs' success depends on their ability to exceed increasing customer expectations through an excellent customer experience.