The document summarizes findings from surveys of IT leaders on how their organizations have responded and adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic over the last 6 months. Some key findings include: most companies have plans for social distancing in offices, over 70% of IT leaders believe the shift to remote work will impact future office and staffing plans, and over half of employees are expected to still be working remotely in January 2021. Additionally, IT budgets are rebounding after initial decreases, and technology investments over the next 12 months will focus on improving customer experience, security, and increasing operational efficiency.

1. SOURCE: CIO Pandemic Business Impact Survey, August 2020; CIO COVID-19 Impact Study, April 2020
9 out of 10companies have begun making
social distance plans for the office
How IT Leaders
are Responding
to the Pandemic
6 Months In:
INSIGHT FROM CIO’S 2020 PANDEMIC
BUSINESS IMPACT SURVEY
Changing How and Where We Work
70%
of IT decision-makers
(ITDMs) agree that the WFH
shift has created a more
positive view of remote
workplace policies & will
likely impact how they will
plan for office space, tech
staffing & overall staffing
in the future
of employees will be
permanently working
remotely in January 2021
In order to be fully
operational, only
23% of employees
need to be physically
in the office
41%
19%
prior to the
pandemic
54% have a full strategy in place
that they are already executing
Altering Businesses Tech Roadmap
IT Budgets are Rebounding
Tech Investments Over the Next 12 Months
FOLLOWED BY:
Create a better customer
experience (58%) and
improve security (58%)
64%
of ITDMs report that
increasing operational
efficiency has become
more important as a digital
business objective due
to COVID-19
59%
agree that the effects
of the pandemic are
accelerating their digital
transformation efforts
62%
report that the
pandemic has changed
how customers choose
to interact with them
54%
say that the WFH
shift has forced the
digitization and
automation of existing
workflows and
processes
When asked in April 2020
how their IT budgets would
shift, IT leaders said:
In August 2020, we
saw some rebound:
To become a digital business,
organizations will invest more
dollars in:
SMBs are seeing
a quicker revival
How are IT Leaders Spending Their Time?
84%
of SMBs
expect IT
budgets to
increase
or stay
the same
68%
of
enterprises
Big Data/
Analytics
Business Process
Management
Mobile
Devices
AI Mobile
Apps
38%
33% 33%
32% 32%
Lead digital business/digital
transformation initiatives
Upgrade IT and data security
to boost corporate resiliency
Improve remote work experiences
37%
APRIL
36%
AUGUST
37%
APRIL
36%
AUGUST
29%
APRIL
28%
AUGUST
ACTIVITY
Cost control/expense management
Improving IT operations/
systems performance
Security management
Redesigning business processes
Driving business innovation
SEPTEMBER
2019
29%
42%
45%
24%
33%
APRIL
2020
45%
38%
33%
37%
26%
AUGUST
2020
43%
39%
37%
32%
29%
To learn more about how IT leaders are responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, visit
https://www.idg.com/tools-for-marketers/cio-pandemic-business-impact-survey-2020/
to request a full research briefing. To better understand how you can engage with the IT
decision-maker audience, contact us at www.idg.com/contact-us or reach out to your
IDG sales representative.
CEOs Priorities for IT Remain the Same
COMPARED TO
APRIL AUGUST
25%
41%
35%
23%
35%
40%
Increase
Decrease
Remain
the Same
✓
✓
✓