IT Budgets Expected To Increase for 2008
In a straw poll conducted at CDW's Annual Partner Summit yesterday, 43 percent
of the 266 IT executives polled believe their
budgets
for 2008 will be higher than those of 2007, with another 9 percent saying
they believe their budgets will be much higher.
The poll also showed a shift in how IT shops are communicating the value of
technology to business executives. For instance, when asked to list the top
reason why customers purchase products, services and solutions, only 13 percent
cited technology leadership, while 83 percent cited business benefits including:
increased operational efficiency (38 percent), building or expanding on a competitive
advantage (16 percent) and better supporting expansion or revenues growth (9
percent).
Many IT industry executives also expressed difficulties in educating their
business executives on how to best harness technology, according to the poll
results. When asked to list the biggest obstacles to increasing their IT budgets,
25 percent attributed it to a lack of executive vision in how to use IT for
business advantage, while 12 percent said it was a lack of understanding and
support on the part of senior executives.
This communication gap between business and IT executives also surfaced when
IT execs were asked to name the biggest IT mistakes made by companies. Thirty-two
percent of respondents said a lack of vision for applying technology to solve
business problems was the biggest IT mistake, with another 15 percent citing
insufficient business cases for IT investment.
Posted by Ed Scannell on November 08, 2007