CIOs: 2007 Looking Up

More than 50 percent of CIOs plan on spending more on technology in 2007 than in 2006.

More than 50 percent of CIOs plan on spending more on technology in 2007 than in 2006, according to a survey released by the Society for Information Management on Sept. 18.

To be specific, 51.8 percent of those surveyed said 2007 IT budgets would be higher than 2006 IT budgets, with 32.8 percent expecting flat budgets.

The remainder, or 15.3 percent, expect 2007 budgets to be lower than 2006 levels.

In those 2007 budgets, respondents said 33.9 percent will be spent on internal staff, 14.6 percent on software and 14 percent on hardware.

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Among other categories, 9.3 percent will be spent on outsourcing staff domestically, and 3.3 percent of funds will go offshore.

Networking will account for 10.8 percent of 2007 IT budgets. Consulting will occupy 9.8 percent of 2007 budgets.

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Head count in IT is also expected to at least be flat in 2007. Among those surveyed, 36.7 percent of respondents said they will hire more people than in 2006, with 35.2 percent adding that the number of employees will be flat compared with 2006.

The remaining respondents said they expect to employ fewer IT workers in 2007 than they did in 2006.

SIM also found that turnover rates were high (6 to 10 percent) for 22.7 percent of those surveyed, with 64 percent reporting turnover rates of less than 5 percent.

To prevent those defections, IT managers are boosting salaries.

A full 70.9 percent of those surveyed said they expect salaries in 2007 to top 2006 levels, and 19.7 percent expect flat salary growth. The remainder anticipate a decrease in salaries.

Among other tidbits from the SIM survey:

Of CIOs surveyed, 45.2 percent report to the CEO, with 25.4 percent reporting to the chief financial officer and 15.9 percent reporting to the chief operating officer.

Of CIOs surveyed, 17.3 percent have been on the job for less than a year. The average tenure is 3.6 years. Longevity, however, is possible, as 13.4 percent of CIOs surveyed have held their position for 11 to 14 years.

Of CIOs surveyed, 74 percent said their IT organization is centralized, with 10.3 percent reporting that they are decentralized. The remainder work at federated organizations, with big units each having their own CIO.

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