A research study on information technology spending says such spending is up, is still going up, and is showing a rosier picture than it did last year.
"We are predicting an increase in IT spending over the coming year, based on the results of this research," said Kim Paulsen, who publishes the Penton IT Media's Windows and .NET Magazine Network, of its 2004 "IT Industry Trends" research, analyzing trends and plans for companies that use any Microsoft operating system.
"Our IT Industry Trends research has predicted an uptick in the market since last year, and the outlook is becoming even more optimistic," Paulsen said.
In 2003, 75 percent of those polled planned to maintain their incumbent IT spending level or raise it, but this year's poll showed 92 percent plant to maintain or increase from their current IT spending, the study said. A reported 51 percent of those polled planned to upgrade desktop operating systems within the coming six to 12 months, with 57 percent planning to upgrade their OS in the same period.
Unsurprisingly, spam was found to produce the highest frustration level among those IT professionals polled for the study, with limited budgets and expanding responsibilities coming in second, and security and system hacks third. Those polled said their top priority was managing infrastructure with shoring up security second – a rise from last year's study which said security improvements ranked third among such priorities.
"We know from the research that the vast majority of the respondents are heavily involved in IT purchasing and leasing decisions at their companies," Paulsen said. "Our goal with this study is to keep the market, our partnering vendors, and the Microsoft community informed on how IT professionals influence spending at their organizations and what those IT professionals are purchasing."
