Determining Priorities

How do we determine what to cover in our annual Vision issue?

It's certainly not easy. There are so many issues CIOs must address that it was difficult to narrow the list to 14.

We had to take into consideration that all financial-services firms are not equal. Some firms may not even have a foreign-exchange department. However, foreign-exchange trading and processing made our list because we believe that segment will see tremendous change this year.

This special issue takes a look at areas where CIOs will face substantial challenges and areas where major change will occur.

We determined the top issues using three methods.

First, the editors canvassed their sources to uncover their top concerns.

Second, we depended heavily on our Reader Advisory Board's advice. We gathered our board together in November to discuss their most pressing issues.

Lastly, our research department - InformationWeek Media Network Research - surveyed 50 of our readers to determine their 2004 priorities. We compared the topics we chose as an editorial team with the research results and found we were in sync.

The priorities study allowed respondents to choose from 44 technology issues and 24 business issues. Although our lists were similar, there were some issues that both our research department and editors believed would be very important but didn't make the final cut.

Some of these issues include, ironing out the kinks in outsourcing. Our study found that there would be increased spending on outsourcing in 2004, and our sources told us the relationships formed weren't yet perfect. In order to realize the full promise of outsourcing, the problems with outsourcing must be addressed.

In addition, dealing with spam is another issue that will receive greater attention this year. Our research found that many firms would focus on eliminating spam as a key to increasing productivity.

Lastly, getting securities and investment firm's development departments CMMI certified is something that many institutions also have on their agenda.

We hope that you enjoy our special issue and the exclusive research we have provided from the InformationWeek Media Network Research department.

Expect to see more exclusive research from us this year.

Good Luck!