´User-Determined Computing´ Redefines Information Technology Priorities, Accenture Survey Finds

When making decisions about investments in information technology
(IT), organizations must shift their mindset from Wall Street to Main
Street in order to retain and win new customers, according to the
findings of a global study of Chief Information Officers (CIOs)
released today by Accenture (NYSE: ACN).

The Accenture survey results indicate that executive and
technology leadership - under pressure from investment analysts and
other Wall Street observers - are undertaking superficial improvements
in their IT systems rather than making fundamental changes to meet the
growing demands of users.

Users -- including consumers, business customers and, in the case
of government, citizens -- are demanding more because of their
ever-increasing familiarity and comfort level with technology, an
emerging phenomenon that Accenture has called "user-determined
computing."

The trend has the potential to create a dilemma in 2008 for CEOs
and CIOs evaluating IT investments, the survey found. "CEOs and CIOs
must decide between offering technology-literate customers new
products and services that are truly unique, versus receiving a short
round of applause from investment fund managers for holding the line
on spending," said Bob Suh, chief technology strategist, Accenture.

The study also indicates that the chasm between Wall Street and
Main Street is wide and deep, with little evidence that companies and
organizations are working to close it. At the same time, low-cost,
emerging-market multinationals are establishing a completely new set
of expectations around user experience, participation, mobile access
and real-time responsiveness.

Similarly, the study found that user-determined computing also has
implications for employees who use technology every day to do their
jobs. "Consumer technology is now outpacing enterprise technology,
leaving employees frustrated by the inadequacy of the technology
they´re using at the office," said Suh. "Consequently, employees are
introducing their personal technologies into the workplace, even if
the organization does not support them."

The study, based on detailed online self-assessments of the
senior-most IT executive at nearly 300 Fortune 1000 companies in North
America, Europe, Asia Pacific and South America -- with combined
annual revenue of USD 5.3 trillion -- yielded multiple findings that
illustrate the depth of the chasm between Wall Street and Main Street:

-- IT teams still spend 40 percent of their total time running
and fixing existing systems, a number that remains essentially
unchanged since Accenture conducted its last global IT study
in July 2005. This is a result of many legacy systems
remaining on life support for more than a decade and an
unwillingness to pull the plug on outdated systems. In fact,
on average more than 60 percent of all enterprise systems in
the study were fully depreciated.

-- On average just 22 percent of customer interactions, 19
percent of supplier interactions and 33 percent of employee
interactions are conducted online and processed automatically.

-- Only 11 percent of information system interfaces focus on the
customer.

-- Some 80 percent of organizations are failing to gather very
detailed customer information and 84 percent are failing to
make the information very accessible to decision makers and
line staff.

-- Only 35 percent of enterprises around the world are committing
mobile applications to a major part of their business and only
a fraction look seriously at such collaborative tools such as
Wikis for their knowledge workers.

High Performers

Another survey objective was exploring how large organizations
manage their IT investments and to identify the common underlying
behaviors and characteristics of "high performers." Some findings
related to high performers, which Accenture defines as those that
consistently outperform their peers in revenue, profit growth and
total shareholder return, include:

-- More than 25 percent of application interfaces run by high
performers focus on the customer, as opposed to 15 percent of
low and average performers. More than half of all CIOs,
however, say they need to increase customers as a priority for
real-time interfaces.

-- IT innovation leaders are already leveraging Service Oriented
Architecture (SOA) for legacy integration, and are further
ahead today in building new SOA-based applications. The study
found that 38 percent of high performers´ application
portfolio is comprised of composite applications built using
SOA, and 45 percent of new application functionalities of this
group are built based on use/reuse of existing services.

-- Masters in IT execution, having adopted disciplined approaches
to increase standardization and centralization of their IT
functions in recent years, are spending on average 19 percent
less time on operations (i.e. running, fixing) than other
CIOs.

-- High performers have shed most of the legacy technology, as
they report having the youngest application portfolios. When
it comes to application migration, over two-thirds of high
performers report looking for alternatives to traditional
enterprise applications for their externally facing
applications such as sales and marketing and customer
services. In addition, over one-third of high performers will
look for on-demand/Software as a Service applications for
supply chain & distribution, research & development, human
resources, finance and accounting.

About the Survey

Since 2005, Accenture has been studying performance drivers in
managing and executing information technology. This global research
program examines how the world´s largest businesses and public-sector
organizations are managing their IT investment and processes across
the fundamental IT functions. Many studies measure and report on
information technology investment trends. But they don´t examine the
quality of the spending. How is IT performing today? How will it
perform in the future? The answers to these questions can provide the
true indicator of the value of information technology and its role in
helping organizations perform at higher levels.

To date, more than 700 Chief Information Officers in 22 countries
have participated in this ongoing research.

About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services
and outsourcing company. Combining unparalleled experience,
comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business
functions, and extensive research on the world´s most successful
companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become
high-performance businesses and governments. With more than 175,000
people in 49 countries, the company generated net revenues of USD
19.70 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2007. Its home page
is www.accenture.com.