SIM study reveals what's keeping IT executives awake at night

CEOs and CIOs are placing more emphasis on security technologies; business process management (BPM); and business intelligence (BI)— but alignment of IT and business strategies remains their top concern. That's according to an annual survey commissioned by the Society for Information Management (SIM), which puts Web services at the top when it comes to applications and technologies of importance to IT executives, followed by BI resources, security technologies, BPM, customer portals, and applications and systems integration. IT and business alignment ranks No. 1 on the list of the top 10 IT management concerns, and for the third year in a row, there is a focus on security and privacy; attracting, developing and retaining IT professionals; and IT strategic planning. IT governance remains a priority with executives in 2006, and new to the list of the 10 most prominent issues for IT executives are speed and agility.