Enterprises are expected to increase their technology budgets by an average of 2.7 percent over the next 6 to 12 months, according to a recent survey of CIOs and other IT purchasing decision makers. This survey was performed by Aberdeen Group, a market analysis and positioning services firm. In a similar survey last September, CIOs indicated their overall IT budgets would increase on average 3.7 percent over the next 6 to 12 months.
The survey data are highlighted in a report, “Technology Forecasting Consortium: 2003 User Buying Intentions,” which is based on a recurring survey of IT executives in the Technology Forecasting Consortium. The TFC is Aberdeen’s end-user advisory council that assists in the early identification of trends in the IT market and the prediction of user buying intentions.
”The survey results show that IT spending growth will continue to be slow and incremental over the next 6 to 12 months,” said Hugh Bishop, Aberdeen senior vice president and author of the new report. “This data is in line with Aberdeen’s forecast that worldwide IT spending will increase approximately 4 percent in 2003 and is closely tied to GDP in capital spending metrics.”
key findings of the report include:
• The top five application categories (out of 35) with a positive intent to purchase are content and document management applications; query, reporting and analysis; project management; Web management applications; and Web analytics.
• Compared to the September survey, the average intent to purchase for all 35 application categories combined increased, while the average priority to purchase decreased over the same time frame.
According to Aberdeen, more organizations are considering new application purchases but have yet to move into formal evaluation or purchasing processes. This is a potential early indicator of a recovery in the business application sector.
The top three technology infrastructure solutions with a positive intent to purchase are application development tools; security gateways and services; and enterprise application integration software.
With the exception of mainframes, CIOs expect to increase spending in all hardware categories during 2003. The most optimistic forecast is that for servers. IT outsourcing was the winner among services offerings with 1.8 percent expected growth.
The report is available in an abridged version for free and a complete version for $495. Visit www.aberdeen.com.
