Faster innovation is now one of the biggest concerns for business, according to a recent survey.

Gartner's annual EXP study interviewed more than 600 chief information officers (CIOs) and found that, while budget pressures remain the leading influence on decisions, bringing fresh ideas to the market faster than competitors is increasingly important.

It is now the third biggest issue on the agenda, up from fifth last year.

Gartner believes that it marks a shift in thinking towards the establishment of real-time enterprises, in which the value of IT is judged not simply by financial savings but by how quickly it allows business to get products and services to market.

"Competitiveness increasingly depends on the ability to detect critical events sooner and to respond to them faster," said research director Mark Raskino.

The best CIOs will see their role as sensing change earlier and allowing the company to react more quickly.

"Cost control and data security are considered to be the top business issues again this year, but they mask key agenda shifts just below the surface," said Raskino.

"CIOs will have to lead their companies towards the real-time enterprise by, for example, slashing new product development cycle times."

The change requires more strategic thinking and the ability to adopt a range of collaborative technologies that allows a company to compete effectively, whether for staff, capital or markets.

But the survey suggests that many CIOs are sceptical about the ability of their companies to adapt.

Some 55 per cent believe that it would be impossible to transform the majority of their processes or systems to a real-time model within a decade.

And 57 per cent admit that, if their companies cannot change, they may be vulnerable to newly-formed competitors which may be faster and more able to get to market ahead of the pack.