Less than 10% of business decision-makers outside of IT are not spending their own budget on technology services, and of the 90% that are, almost a quarter of them earmark 21% or more of their unit’s expenditures for IT, according to new research from Forrester. Interestingly, this group, which Forrester calls “high spenders,” has good relationships with IT and views the CIO and his/her office more positively than lower-spending business leaders. 

Twenty percent of high spenders say that their use of consumer technology has changed their expectations of how technology should be used. This group is also opening its wallet to systems-of-engagement-focused technologies: They are three times more likely to be hiring their own IT staff than low spenders — the 30% that spend 1% to 5% of their budget on IT — and two times more likely to be investing in smartphone apps and analytics.

What’s the long-term impact of renegade spending on IT? Over time, the CIO’s organization will be much less about hardware and servers and much more focused on external business partners and public cloud services. “CIOs have to pivot and act more as a consultant to the business — the days of a centralized controlled IT world are over, just like the centralized state-run economy of the Soviet Union is a thing of the past,” blogs John McCarthy, the author of the report. 

Forrester’s Forrsights Business Decision-Makers Survey, Q4 2012, found that: 

  • Financial services firms do the most business buying of any industry vertical. Ninety-five percent spend their own money on technology, and 38% fall into the high-spender category. 
  • BYOD is not about attracting younger employees — it’s about executives. Thirty percent of senior managers are high spenders.
  • More business buyers are increasing their spending budget than IT. Business buyers are 20% more likely to increase their spending in technology in comparison with IT decision-makers. High-spending business leaders are 50% more likely.

Forrester clients can access a copy of “Tracking The Renegade Tech Buyer” here.