Report: IT spend migrates beyond CIO

Franklin, Tenn. – More than $11.6 billion of retail IT spending, or 35% of the total, will come from budgets other than that of the CIO. Of that total “black ops” IT spend, $6.6 billion will come from the activities of the CMO and their purchases of hardware, software, SaaS, and services outside of the CIO budget.



As indicated in the new IHL Group study “Black Ops IT,” the CMO represents an increase in IT spending of 15% in the last two years and is driving a huge part of the overall IT spending Increase. IHL analysis shows that a $1 billion specialty soft goods retailer will have an average black ops IT spend totaling $17.6 million that comes from budgets outside of the CIO's, including CMO, store ops, HR, and purchasing.