With the increasing demand for Cloud solutions, has the traditional desktop productivity tool seen the end of its popularity? How has the appetite for virtualisation changed the server arena and is Windows 7 living up to the hype?

Outsourcing of IT support, desktop support and infrastructure is relatively common, while an increasing number of organisations are now investing in outsourcing of e-commerce systems, hosting of data-centres, and software and application development, the latter of which is commonly outsourced offshore.

This Reality Checker on Business Intelligence highlights that 2012 is all about development into mobile solutions; interest in this area has tripled over the last twelve months. Download a free version here.

This Reality Checker highlights a relatively immature function with KPIs and SLAs not driving the required behaviours to achieve Business Strategies.

Respondents to this survey have, collectively, over 800 years experience with IT Supplier Management.

This Reality Checker reveals a steady increase in Private Cloud deployments with a growing appetite for third party infrastructure usage.

Respondents to the survey represent IT budgets totalling more than £11Bn.

Utility sector IT departments to focus on skills development and meeting regulations in 2012.

Retail IT departments to focus on cost cutting strategies and business transformation plans in 2012.

Public sector IT departments to focus on cost cutting, efficiencies and demonstrating value in 2012.

Oil, Chemical and Pharmaceutical IT departments to focus on simplification and collaboration in 2012.

Manufacturing IT departments to improve business resilience in 2012.

Finance IT departments to centralise procurement in 2012.

CIOs to focus on Risk Management and Communications in 2012.

In 2012 corporate IT departments will play a critical role in the future success of the business.  Despite the challenging economic conditions, heads of corporate IT in Enterprise are upbeat about the prospects for the industry this year and see businesses turning to IT departments for innovative ways of using technology to do more with less.

The Consumerisation of Corporate IT is an inevitable process that has gained considerable momentum over the last two years. The introduction of these devices into the workplace began in earnest with the release of the iPad. Initially confined to the upper echelons of the organisation the tablet and smartphone have now become a common sight in business.

This survey highlights that IT Risk Management is a maturing area of the business as organisations endeavour to understand the current risk appetite of the business and the risk landscape.  As new strategies are put in place for the new year organisations are continuing to focus on cost cutting strategies and 'doing more with less' as budgets are continually squeezed and, in some sectors, frozen.

Enterprise Architecture will form an integral part of ongoing IT strategies in 2012.  This Reality Checker discusses the prevalence and maturity of EA frameworks and processes, benefits that organisations are realising and tools used successfully. 

Unified communications (UC) is the integration of real-time communication services such as instant messaging, presence information, telephony (including IP telephony), video conferencing, with non-real-time communication services such as unified messaging (integrated voicemail, e-mail, SMS and fax).  As employees demand ever more collaborative solutions and instant communication channels, ensuring that the best products are deployed is essential.

Service Management is a consistently popular topic amongst members of The Forum and was voted the second most important business strategy in the 2011 Corporate Strategy Survey.  This Reality Checker compares the maturity of Service Management from 2009 through to 2011.

With IT infrastructure becoming more complex, encompassing virtualisation and consumerisation within the workplace, it is clearly becoming more difficult for organisations to monitor what is being used where and on what.  Organisations have clearly stated their strategies and drivers with Asset Management in this latest Reality Checker.

As Social Media continues to grow in popularity how are corporates taking advantage and leveraging this new technology?

Standards and data are where organisations are focusing their efforts.

It's clear that there is no one size fits all model when it comes to provisioning devices to users.  More and more frequently devices are assigned on a role basis and as a result of the requirement of the work.  Read the results and find out how consumerised devices are impacting the corporate environment.

Cutting cost is a clear driver and goal for 2011

'Collaboration' as a capability is rising rapidly up both business and IT priority lists.

As IT departments are pushed to squeeze every available bang out of each buck, has Open Source finally become a readily available corporate solution?

Providing the European Commissioner with an insight into the views held by businesses and large public organisations as the primary customers of Cloud Computing.

Small margin between those experiencing and those not experiencing skills shortages.  Ensuring knowledge transfer within an outsourcer is still an issue.

Internet Explorer (IE) 6 and 7 continue to fall in usage with a noticeable increase in the usage of IE8.  Microsoft's newest offering - IE9 - has yet to make an impact.

Whilst ERP solutions are, for the majority, mature in use, both Business Intelligence (BI) and Management Information (MI) solutions are growing.  Read the full results here.

This latest Reality Checker reveals what models enterprise organisations are choosing, the areas being outsourced and where contracts are being awarded.

Both VDI (virtual desktop infrastructure) and Application Presentation Server experience a noteworthy increase in implementations.  Read the full results for more information.

Cautiously comfortable, but not complacent...

The specific IT capabilities adopted suggest an ongoing level of virtualisation and certain cloud services becoming part of the 'business as usual' state.

A shift in priority for many with a call for a change in leadership.

Members of the Forum's Information Security Service were polled to understand whether the perceived threat landscape has changed as a result of the Stuxnet worm in July 2010.

Corporate IT in the UK is relatively buoyant going into 2011.

CIOs disclosed a more strategic view of organisations than IT staff as whole.

Public sector IT committed to cutting costs in 2011 in order to deliver better value.

Financial services set to tackle legacy systems in order to be more agile in 2011.

Manufacturing sector IT set for recovery in 2011.

Agility a key point for Pharmaceuticals in 2011.

Retail IT focused on organic growth in 2011.

IT in utilities companies determined to cut costs in 2011.

A number of Enterprise Architecture frameworks and methodologies have been developed. Understand how these used in practice and whether their influence spreads outside the Enterprise Architecture department into the wider IT community.

Which version do you run and what is your upgrade strategy?

Adapting or blending ITIL and other framework components to create a mix more relevant to your business requirements.

Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn - which flavours do you allow?

Being able to access both your personal and corporate worlds from one device is something the next generation of employees is starting to demand.

Is the business planning on migrating to Windows 7?

Asset Management is an ongoing challenge amongst the Forum's membership. Without it, cost cutting is not measurable and audits a painful near impossible endeavour.