The complexity of operations has been a growing concern for the majority of businesses in the last three years, according to research by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Fewer than 22% of the senior executives surveyed by the EIU felt that their organisations are well placed
to “confront” complexity in the future. A greater proportion (24%) described their companies as “complex and chaotic”. The principal source of rising complexity was “increasing customer demands”, followed by increased regulation, the research found.

More than a third of respondents – a mix of private and public sector executives from around the world – reported that they are seeking to address this complexity by “simplifying IT systems”, which was the joint most popular response, together with “simplifying services or product portfolios”.

Asked which departments had been most impacted by increased organisational complexity, 43% of respondents said the IT department, placing it third behind general management and finance.