IT departments don't live up to business-driving potential IT departments excel at boosting efficiency but fall short of driving business growth, according to a new study. Technologies such as cloud computing, mobility, and data analytics can put IT in a position to move beyond traditional support/maintenance expectations and assume a more strategic role in the business. But most tech departments aren’t taking advantage of the opportunity, concludes a new study conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by Juniper Networks. The study, “Can the IT Department Keep Up With Exponential Growth?” asked 474 IT and business executives from the U.S., Germany, Japan, and the U.K. about how the role of IT is changing to help capitalize on business growth opportunities. Companies do a good job of leveraging IT to improve technology-driven business processes, the study found, but IT rarely plays a role in higher level strategizing — identifying new markets and developing new products, for instance. Technology IndustryCareersCloud ComputingSoftware Development