The GREAT IT CHOKE: an unprecedented level of technology deployment that has exceeded the absorption capacity of end-users.
Starting in 2010 we have seen historic levels of IT spending in the US. Part recession rebound, sure. But what made this period so historic is that the information economy achieved its greatest share of GDP in over 15 years and this was after 19 consecutive years of price declines.
So what's the impact of such a significant outlay? From a business productivity perspective we will not know for some time, IT productivity usually lags investment by 3-4 years. But from a user productivity standpoint we know that the effect was immediate and negative.
We have just finished our 2012 Adoption Insight Report: Service Beyond the Great IT Choke. Collectively the 300 companies that participated are averaging a 17% end-user productivity loss from information overload and feature complexity.
Is 17% a significant number? Absolutely. To put it in perspective, the total economic value of user losses is currently greater than most company’s entire IT spend. Some might suggest that this is just the by-product of the usual technology refresh cycle and to some degree that’s true. But I think we are witnessing something even more troubling. A perfect storm of investment catch-up intersecting with software’s increasing dependency on end-users to deliver value. And in this storm, the average user-service model is a boat that can't float.
Over the next several weeks I will address many of the findings from our 2012 Adoption Insight Report. We are hoping the report will accelerate efforts to improve the adoption landscape for end-users and by connection business results.
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