Nearly two-thirds of leading IT professionals believe their infrastructures are not flexible enough to meet the changing business priorities, according to research released today. Of the 200 top IT professionals surveyed in Fujitsus new report entitled Dynamic Infrastructures and the Future of IT, 61% feel that their IT infrastructure will have to be more flexible in order to cope with present economic conditions. The report explores the need for increased agility in the current economic conditions to ensure the businesses that survive, thrive come the recovery. This is set to become the cornerstone of improved competitive advantage. As signs of economic recovery start to appear after a year of doom and gloom, competition in the bounceback is essential – IT professionals can emerge with renewed vigour and properly assess their company’s needs in a new business environment. 53% of respondents expressed a desire to be proactive and change the way that IT is recognised within their organisation. Signs that the business/IT relationship requires rethinking is also becoming apparent with IT departments researching alternative IT delivery scenarios such as ‘as a service’ models and cloud computing – computing models that were largely conceptual before the recession and have now matured. However, many organisations have not been able to implement them due to cutbacks in the downturn. This has also held back strategic investment into server virtualisation which nearly half of respondents say they plan to implement to help achieve corporate and operational change goals. The findings unveiled in a White Paper this week have garnered the opinions from 200 top IT professionals. Almost half of the IT leaders canvassed stated they’d be focussed on enhancing their company’s competitive advantage in the recession by exploring flexible approaches to IT delivery (52%), improving communications within their organisation (51%) and reducing the cost of IT delivery (43%). It seems tech-led companies are set on creating a competitive edge for themselves and offering cutting edge customer service. Customer experience was highlighted as a particular pressure ‘from above’ felt by IT departments and one which ideally they can be integral in providing solutions to. Chris Bone, the Enterprise Products and Solutions Specialist at Fujitsu has for a number of years been at the forefront of innovation within the IT sector. Here he talks us through the power of thinking differently; the importance of strategy, which shouldn’t be confused with the size of investment; and why there’s not one panacea necessarily to solve your IT issues. (Credit: onrec.com)