IT departments will focus on uniting their back-end systems this year, say experts

Joining up back-end systems will be the focus for many IT departments this year, as the retail sector implements advanced multi-channel strategies, and local government concentrates on fulfilling its shared services objective, according to Mark Porter, chief executive of Capgemini's UK and Ireland operations.

Porter told IT Week that December 2006 provides an important deadline for many retailers who are currently "scared witless" about their situation.

"In retail, a hot topic at the moment is, 'How do we survive?'" Porter commented. "Retailers need a multi-channel strategy for internet trading, catalogue trading, phone orders and the high street." This multi-channel strategy will require joined up infrastructure at the back-end, according to Porter. "Three years ago, IT budgets were all about reducing costs," he added. "Now it's more about increasing top-line growth."

Another sector facing pressure to integrate systems is local government. " Shared services are a big thing in government," Porter said. "The 2005 deadline for getting public sector services online [required departments to have] joined-up systems at the front-end. "But in the back office there are still lots of different systems."

Porter also predicted this year would bring the first procurement specification from a group of cities commissioning a shared services project, for example.

Previous failures in government IT projects are partly due to the sheer size and scale of the schemes, according to Porter. "A better way to manage them is bit by bit, with pilot schemes first," he argued. "The quality of management also hasn't been good enough. You need top people to manage such big projects and catch mistakes before they've gone off the rails."