Some Optimism In IT Budgets

The budget vise seems to be loosening a bit. A survey of companies with at least $500 million in revenue by analyst firm Forrester Research indicates that further cuts this year are unlikely for the majority of respondents. And of those execs saying their budgets will change, more predict spending will increase by 10% than fall by 10%.

According to Forrester's semiannual Business Technographics North America Benchmark Study of 1,001 senior business and technology managers, IT spending will have increased 2.3% during 2002 compared with 2001 totals.

Fully 63% of those surveyed say their budgets will survive the second half of the year. And of those who foresee change, 37% expect budget increases of 10% or more. Twelve percent expecting a change think their budgets will be cut by at least 10%.

Most of the execs studied--55%--say their C-level comrades are less risk-averse when it comes to tech investment. Only 36% felt that way when Forrester asked the same question in February.

Infrastructure essentials such as server network and storage hardware are popular, the study says, while demand for applications is low. Enterprise portals and business-intelligence tools represent the only categories with increasing demand. One in five companies say they intend to buy in these categories. Still, for 38% of the companies surveyed, those purchases are being made possible only by shifting money from other IT budget categories--such consulting, which about 40% of companies plan to cut.