News Analysis: Optimism about the economy and anxiety about security are leading companies to increase IT spending, according to this comprehensive report. (CIOInsight.com)
Welcome to the most comprehensive report on IT spending CIO Insight has ever produced.
Unlike previous years surveys, where we tracked only project-related spending on applications and infrastructure, weve asked respondents about any and all spending on these technologies.
Weve also broadened the field to 50 different technologies and services. With 429 respondents holding senior-level IT positions, the result is a full picture of where IT spending is heading in 2007.
Were predicting a higher rate of spending growth than Gartner, Forrester Research and IDC; their forecasts for 2007 increases range from 2.8 to 6.5 percent, while we expect a 7.6 percent increase, the largest weve ever reported.
But that shouldnt be surprising, given what weve learned in our recent surveys: CIOs are focusing more on growth and improving service than on cost reduction; the current economic expansion has proved resilient; and security worries and regulations require more purchases toward IT protection.
And as companies make infrastructure investments, they are updating older systems and installing new applications that can take advantage of these investments.
Some of the budgeting falls under the category of spending money to save money: More companies have VOIP (voice over IP) in their budgets than last year. At large companies, outsourcing will take a bite out of IT jobs. But overall, its an upbeat budget picture for upbeat times.
Read the full story on CIOInsight.com: IT Spending: Turning on the AfterburnersCheck out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, views and analysis on servers, switches and networking protocols for the enterprise and small businesses.
Executive Editor
Allan Alter has been a specialist on information technology management, strategy and leadership for many years. Most recently, he was editor-in-chief and the director of new content development for the MIT Sloan Management Review. He has been a columnist and department editor at Computerworld, where he won three awards from the American Society of Business Press Editors. Previously he was a special projects editor, senior editor and senior writer for CIO magazine. Earlier, Alter was an associate editor for Mass High Tech. He has edited two books: The Squandered Computer: Evaluating the Business Alignment of Business Technologies and Redesigning the Firm.
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