The budget for information technology this year for most companies would essentially be flat across the globe compared to last year when it declined by 8.1 percent. However, a marginal increase in global average of 1.3 percent compared to 2009 was seen according to a research done by Gartner-EXP Worldwide Survey of global Chief Information Officers.
The year 2009 was actually the most challenging to many Chief Information Officers in the corporate and public sectors. They faced multiple budget cuts, delayed spending and increased demand for services with reduced resources. The challenges were brought about by the economic recession the world experienced last year.
But as the year 2010 began, all of these are set to change. The economies are starting to recover and enterprises are beginning to transition their strategies from cost-cutting efficiency to value creating productivity.
In a survey from responses of 1,586 Chief Information Officers representing over 126 billion dollars worth of industries across 41 countries, research shows that CIO’s are transitioning IT beyond merely managing resources to taking responsibility for managing results. Many of them see 2010 as a year of many opportunities to accelerate and move ahead of the competition.
More so, the survey indicates business process improvement and reducing enterprise costs as the top two business priorities for the CIOs. Meanwhile, cloud computing and virtualization emerged as the top two technology priorities.
But whatever the year of the Tigers bring, it seems businesses are now ready to make a huge roar. As truly, this will be a year of many opportunities.