In-Depth

IT Budget Survey Results Released

From next year’s growing (or shrinking) budgets to hot spots for new investment, our survey shows how IT will be spending 2005’s funding.

• 12/02/2004

The good news: most IT budgets will be rising next year (by an average of 11 percent), with three areas likely to receive the most funds: backup/recovery, data storage, and security solutions. Furthermore, 44 percent of survey respondents say IT staffing will increase next year (also by about 11 percent).

The bad news: in organizations where budgets are decreasing, the drop is over 15 percent, with most of the decrease in desktop software and hardware.

Those are among the results in our 2004 IT Budgeting Survey this year, being released today.

Our survey also found:

• Among the areas where IT management wishes they could spend more (but won't): staff salaries, staff training, and staff head count.

• Companies where IT and business value alignment is highly valued by executives were more likely to enjoy budget increases across all budget categories.

• Asking for more money than your IT department needs is still a common practice: 60 percent of respondents reported fudging their numbers upward by an average of 14 percent.

Our survey also probes how your colleagues are developing their budget, how long it takes, and the iterations it typically takes to firm up a budget.

The complete IT Budgeting Survey results are available in PDF format at:

(a short registration is required).