In Compliance
Compliance is another area of IT management that is affected. In fact, globalization affects how IT executives manage risk; support and adhere to international standards and regulations; and support the development of new international standards and procedures, according to the survey.

The survey also finds that a move to global operations affects a host of personnel issues, including finding the right skills when and where they're needed; controlling staff costs; viewing workforce-related risk; using temporary IT workers; aligning staff to meet customer service requirements; supporting a virtual workforce; and decentralizing the reporting structure. Organizations also face new challenges such as attrition among knowledge workers and the need to manage IT employees in other countries. "There are a lot of moving parts in terms of what the CIO needs to take into consideration when looking at multiple locations and the support infrastructure you need," says Boyd of Aberdeen Group.

Take, for example, staff attrition. Nortel's Clement admits that turnover in foreign countries can be high, especially at third-party vendors that provide outsourced services from these countries. Then there's compliance. Clement says ensuring compliance with privacy and other country specific laws and regulations complicates IT operations by requiring that the company manages information appropriately and offers staff access to that information. "We need to provide support and technology to enable our increasingly global and mobile workforce," she says.