'New tech? Not for me': CIOs running scared in the recession

The recession is turning the UK's CIOs into tech cowards.

According to new research, the recession is causing IT chiefs to shy away from seizing on new technology, despite suffering tech woes as a result of outdated kit.

Only one in 10 CIOs would describe themselves as "early adopters", the report by Fujitsu Technology Services found, while more than half would rather wait to adopt technology once it has been shown to work successfully in other companies first.

However, 50 per cent of those questioned said outdated tech is hampering their ability to cut costs.

CIOs' reluctance to invest in new technology is unsurprising given the ongoing downturn, however - with European enterprises decreasing their 2009 IT operating budgets by two per cent and IT capital budgets by one per cent according to Forrester Research.

Consequently the tech market is feeling the pinch: IT purchases by business and the public sector in Western and Central European countries are forecast to shrink 6.3 per cent year-on-year in 2009, following a decline of 0.8 per cent in 2008.