The CIO Tech Poll for 2019 surveyed IT leaders to identify technology priorities and spending directions, highlighting cybersecurity and cloud computing as areas for significant budget increases. AI and machine learning were deemed the most disruptive technologies, with a majority of IT leaders expecting these to positively impact their businesses in the near future. Emerging vendors are encouraged to demonstrate their viability through case studies and product roadmaps to stand out in a competitive market.

1. CIO Tech Poll: Tech Priorities 2019
Presenter name and date here

2. 2
CIO Tech Poll:
Tech Priorities
was conducted to
gauge for the
upcoming year
which technology
areas will be the
focus of IT leaders,
and to measure
the direction of
spending within
those categories.
Top Represented
Industries:
Financial Services 17%
Healthcare 11%
High Tech 11%
Education 10%
Manufacturing 10%
Services (Legal/ Consulting/
Real Estate) 8%
Government 7%
Retail/ Wholesale/
Distribution 5%
Total respondents: 200 heads of IT
Audience base: CIO Audience on
IDG owned &
operated sites
Heads of IT: 100%
Job Titles: C-level 62%
Director/Manager/
Supervisor 25%
EVP/SVP/VP 13%
Other 1%
Purpose and Methodology

3. 3
54% 53%
32%
46% 48%
51% 53%
57%
53%
56%
59%
50%
57% 57%
18%
19%
29%
16%
13%
23%
13% 11%
12% 13% 14% 12% 10% 9%
28% 28%
39%
38% 39%
36% 34% 33% 35%
31%
25%
38%
30%
34%
Nov 10 Apr 11 Aug 11 Jan 12 July 12 Nov 12 Nov 13 Nov 14 Nov 15 Nov 16 May 17 Dec 17 May 18 Nov 18
Increase Decrease Remain the Same
Consistency in Tech Budget Growth
Source: CIO Tech Poll: Tech Priorities, 2010 - 2019
Q: Will your overall IT budget increase, decrease or remain the same in the next 12 months compared to the past 12 months?
61% Enterprise
53% SMB
30% Enterprise
37% SMB
9% Enterprise
9% SMB

4. 4
41%
44%
46%
46%
47%
48%
50%
63%
67%
72%
4%
5%
4%
2%
2%
4%
1%
5%
3%
2%
48%
35%
30%
23%
32%
38%
31%
28%
27%
25%
7%
16%
19%
29%
19%
10%
19%
4%
4%
2%
SaaS productivity apps
Marketing Automation
Distributed data analytics
Robotic process automation (RPA)
Artificial intelligence & machine learning
Mobile enterprise apps
Customer experience technology
Business process management/
workflow automation
Cloud Computing
Cybersecurity
Increase Decrease Remain the same Unsure
Source: CIO Tech Poll: Tech Priorities, 2019
Expected Increase in Cybersecurity & Cloud Spending
Q. Will your spending for each of the following categories increase, decrease or remain the same in the next 12 months compared to the past 12
months?

5. 5
13%
13%
14%
14%
18%
18%
19%
20%
21%
26%
33%
34%
40%
60%
Cryptocurrency
Location-based services
Next-Gen Wifi
Cloud Databases
Serverless computing
Wearables
Drones and robots
Speech-recognition technology/digital assistants
Cloud/SaaS
AR/VR
Blockchain
IoT/M2M
Big data/analytics
AI/machine learning
Source: CIO Tech Poll: Tech Priorities, 2019
Enterprise: 13%
SMB: 24%
Enterprise: 5%
SMB: 19%
AI & Machine Learning Considered to be Most Disruptive
Q. Which of the following do you consider to be DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES (that is, technologies that have the potential to significantly alter the
way businesses or enter industries operate?
North America: 24%
Non-NA: 47%

6. 6
17%
34%
36%
42%
42%
52%
71%
72%
On-site innovation days
Join and become active in technology user groups
Create specialized team to review
Research analyst firms and follow their best practices
Customer references
Read reviews written by experts
Pilot testing/product demonstration
Attend external events and/or conferences
Source: CIO Tech Poll: Tech Priorities, 2019
IT Leaders Rely on Events & Pilot Testing
for Vendor Evaluations
Q. Which of the following has your organization implemented to evaluate emerging technology vendors?

7. 7
20%
23%
30%
39%
43%
44%
49%
Show evidence of strong financial performance
Submit to testing or independent evaluation
Provide detailed product information
Show evidence that their products/
services stand out from the competition
Provide references from past customers
Provide insight into product road maps/future plans
Provide case studies/proof of concept
Source: CIO Tech Poll: Tech Priorities, 2019
Vendors Prove Viability Through Case Studies
Q. What is the best way that an emerging vendor can prove their viability?

8. 8
• Technology budget increases remain consistent year over year, and organizations
continue to allocate 15% of tech budget to new tech companies.
• Cybersecurity and cloud computing strategies are expected to see the largest increase
in spending throughout the next year.
• Be on the look out for AI and machine learning – 60% of IT leaders say that this is
considered to be the most disruptive technology and 40% expect AI/ML to have a
positive impact on their business in 3-5 years.
• Emerging vendors must know where their viability stands; and in order to increase
viability they should provide case studies and product roadmaps.
Key Takeaways
Source: CIO Tech Poll: Tech Priorities, 2019