European users ready to get into IT process automation

In a recent survey of IT decision makers in more than 500 European organisations, it found almost 50% of respondents saying that investment in IT process automation was a likely response to the financial pressure they are currently experiencing. Additionally, respondents who see reduction of IT headcount, or centralisation of IT resources, as likely responses to the economic situation, are considerably more likely to automate IT processes, according to the company. And given that the study also found that ?25% of companies believing IT headcount cuts are a distinct possibility — in the UK and France, 33% – .this is looking increasingly probable. "Our research shows that European organisations of all sizes are now more seriously considering investments in IT process automation than was previously the case," says Martin Canning, vice president of software and services research at IDC. "IT organisational change is fuelling interest in process automation. IT groups may be faced with having to continue to deliver existing levels of service, but with fewer personnel. Employing process automation techniques is likely to be their best shot at achieving this." His view: there are real opportunities for IT vendors such as BMC, CA, HP, IBM, and Opalis.