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In the face of AI-fueled upheaval, a strong foundation is more critical than ever. As they position IT for change, CIOs are prioritizing IT strategy to ensure alignment with organizational goals. They’re also leaning on fundamental frameworks to strengthen core processes – from data strategy, project delivery, and architecture to service desk performance and governance. Use our Best of Classics in 2025 report to discover the “classic” resources that IT leaders are relying on most to build a foundation for change.

We’ve compiled our most trusted classic research, products, and services this year to reveal what CIOs and IT leaders are focused on as they navigate relentless change.

In an era of disruption, the classics represent the most trusted, tried-and-true research and tools in our collection, relied on by IT leaders year after year to deliver results.

IT strategy continues to lead the pack, as leaders try to align with organizational goals, prioritize investments, and focus teams in the face of competing priorities and AI-fueled change.

IT leaders are using our classic resources to rebuild their core processes – from data strategy, project delivery, and architecture to service desk performance and governance.

Many are leaning on foundational tools like requirements management, risk planning, and change management to improve delivery without overcomplicating execution.

Leaders are trying to build a solid foundation for AI. In parallel, the demand for structured frameworks in classic IT domains, along with strategy and governance, show that leaders are also still focused on getting the fundamentals right.

Info-Tech's All-Time Best, 2025 Edition: Change Is the Headline, Fundamentals Are the Path Research & Tools

1. Info-Tech's All-Time Best, 2025 Edition Report – A peer-driven guide to our most in-demand, tried-and-true resources in 2025.

Explore Info-Tech’s most trusted classics of 2025 to discover the proven resources that IT leaders are using to build a stable foundation for AI-powered success.

Classic research and tools remain the foundation for IT leaders in 2025.

We've compiled the most in-demand evergreen research, products, and services that our members have used extensively in 2025. This insight into what CIOs are prioritizing shows that while getting ready to fully leverage AI, IT leaders are focusing their time on core IT processes and keeping a finger on the pulse of trends and priorities.

IT strategy continues to lead the pack as leaders try to align with organizational goals, prioritize investments, and focus teams in the face of competing priorities and AI-fueled change.
IT leaders are using our classic resources to rebuild their core processes – from data strategy, project delivery, and architecture to service desk performance and governance.
Many are leaning on foundational tools like requirements management, risk planning, and change management to improve delivery without overcomplicating execution.
Leaders are trying to build a solid foundation for AI. In parallel, the demand for structured frameworks in classic IT domains, along with strategy and governance, show that leaders are also still focused on getting the fundamentals right.

Top Classic Research & Products in 2025

"Here is Info-Tech's most popular research so far in 2025."

Gord Harrison

Gord Harrison
Chief Research Officer
Info-Tech Research Group

01 Build a Business-Aligned IT Strategy
Success depends on IT initiatives clearly aligned to business goals, IT excellence, and driving technology innovation.
Build a Business Aligned IT Strategy

02 Standardize the Service Desk
Use a data-driven strategy to standardize service desk processes for the benefit of both users and technicians.

03 Tailor IT Project Management Processes to Fit Your Projects
The right amount of upfront planning is essential to improving project throughput and closure.

04 Establish Data Governance
Understand your current data governance capabilities and build out a future that is right-sized and relevant.

05 Optimize IT Governance for Dynamic Decision-Making
Optimize governance to align with how your organization functions.

06 Design Your IT Organization for the Future
Deliver on your most critical objectives with a strategically aligned IT structure.

Top Classic Research & Products in 2025

"Empower your entire IT team with targeted research on a wide range of IT topics."

Jack Hakimian

Jack Hakimian
Senior Vice President
Info-Tech Research Group

07 Implement AI For Customer Experience
Use AI to supercharge your customer experience outcomes and propel your brand forward.

08 Build an Information Security Strategy
Align the information security strategy to organizational goals and risks to create value.

09 Build a Robust and Comprehensive Data Strategy
Build a data strategy that's organization first, not technology first.

10 Design an Enterprise Architecture Strategy
Develop a strategy that fits the organization's maturity and remains adaptable to unforeseen future changes.

11 Develop a Project Portfolio Management Strategy
Drive IT project throughput by throttling resource capacity.

12 Rationalize Your Application Portfolio
Establish an evergreen application portfolio management program to deliver the best possible return on investment.

Top Classic Research & Products in 2025

"Beyond trends, Info-Tech provides deep-dive tools to help get you to action."

Carlene McCubbin

Carlene McCubbin
Associate Vice President
Info-Tech Research Group

13 Build an IT Risk Management Program
IT risk is business risk. Mitigate the IT risks that could negatively impact your organization.

14 Optimize IT Change Management
Integrate a configuration management database with the change management process to identify dependencies.

15 Build Your AI Risk Management Roadmap
Develop your AI risk management framework to mitigate risk and drive value for your AI investments.

16 Build Your AI Strategy Roadmap
Understand the market landscape, benefits, and risks associated with AI.

17 Scale Up Your Requirements Management Practices
Good requirements practices are the key to unlocking project and product value and reducing technical debt.

18 CIO Priorities
The CIO Priorities report investigates five initiatives CIOs should prioritize in the coming year.

Top Classic Research & Products in 2025

"Our best-practice research and advisory is designed to make your job easier."

Aaron Shum

Aaron Shum
Vice President
Info-Tech Research Group

19 Govern the Use of AI Responsibly With a Fit-for-Purpose Structure
Enable your organization to transparently deliver effective and human-centric AI.

20 Develop and Deploy Security Policies
Enhance your overall security posture with a defensible and prescriptive policy suite.

21 Build a Reporting and Analytical Insights Strategy
Deliver actionable business insights by creating a business-aligned reporting and analytics strategy.

22 Create a Right-Sized Disaster Recovery Plan
Close the gap between your DR capabilities and service continuity requirements.

23 Tech Trends
The AI revolution accelerates; the quantum explosion looms.

24 Master Organizational Change Management Practices
PMOs, if you don't know who is responsible for org change, it's you.

Best of Diagnostics

1 IT Management & Governance Diagnostic
Optimize and elevate the performance of your core IT processes for high-impact results.

2 CIO Business Vision
The most important thing to do is understand the business' needs and actively measure that the business is satisfied.

3 IT Staffing Assessment
Make IT a corporate powerhouse by improving your ability to grow, deploy, and manage your team.

Best of Concierge Services

1 Custom Vendor Landscape
Quickly understand a software marketspace with a concise, analyst-driven vendor snapshot.

2 IT Strategy Visualization Service
Design a boardroom-ready IT strategy presentation. Cut down on time and effort spent by your team to build an effective strategy.

3 Security Policy Review
Enhance your overall security posture with a defensible and prescriptive policy suite.

Best of Vendor Quadrants by SoftwareReviews

These buyer's guides are designed to help prospective purchasers make better decisions by leveraging the experiences of real users.

1 ERP Systems – Enterprise Data Quadrant

2 IT Service Management – Enterprise Data Quadrant

3 BI & Analytics – Enterprise Data Quadrant

Best of Training Programs

1 Management Fundamentals
The move from peer to manager is the hardest transition in IT.

2 AI Workforce Development Training Program
Future-proof your IT workforce with essential artificial intelligence competencies.

3 IT Leadership Masterclass Program
Focus on core skills for all levels of IT leadership.

Best of Workshops

1 Achieve IT Spend & Staffing Transparency
Lay a foundation for meaningful conversations with the business.

2 Build a Business-Aligned IT Strategy
Success depends on IT initiatives clearly aligned to business goals, IT excellence, and driving technology innovation.

3 Build a Robust and Comprehensive Data Strategy
Build a data strategy that's organization first, not technology first.

Best of Industry Research

1 Understand and Assess IT Skills Gaps for Industry 4.0 & 5.0
Implement a strategic approach to skills development and acquisition to capitalize on the benefits of Industry 4.0 & 5.0.

2 Implement Whole-of-Government Cybersecurity Governance
Rethinking how governments provide cybersecurity services at all levels, moving toward a "whole-of-government" integrated model.

3 Transform Your Prof. Services Org With a Tech-Enabled Digital Business Strategy
A digital business strategy exemplar for legal services.

Best of Keynotes

1 Transform IT. Transform Everything.
Learn about leveraging exponential technology to meet sociopolitical and cultural uncertainty head on.

2 The Rise of AI Agents
AI agents have evolved beyond basic language models to systems capable of executing end-to-end tasks.

3 The Race for Talent: Build Over Buy
Don't leave the IT skills gap up to fate by using the traditional "post-and-pray" recruitment approach.

Best of AI Marketplace

1 Legal Industry AI Summary
Law firms of the future will house a much more diverse array of professionals and skills.

2 Customer Experience AI Summary
AI-driven solutions are revolutionizing customer experience by offering unparalleled efficiency and personalization.