By editorial@silicon.com, 23 February 2001 17:00
NEWS The number of respondents taking a dark view of the future has nudged past the number of optimists answering the survey, reflecting a general downturn in confidence in the future of the IT industry. Asked whether they expected this year's budget for hardware, software, servers and services to exceed last year's, 51.3 per cent of the 806 CIOs polled replied in the negative. Many CIOs still believe that increasing their IT budgets will play an important roll in the next year's business strategy. The CIO of General Electric, interviewed in the survey, said that increasing IT investment would help his company to gain an advantage over competitors who cut back IT investment in response to predicted slowdown. The CIO of an executive travel insurance company felt that a weak economy would persuade companies to cut staffing levels and boost IT spending to fill the gaps. However, the survey did suggest that CIOs are acquiring increasing influence in the boardroom as senior management learns to appreciate the value of IT. As the CIO of one technology manufacturer observed: "The more money that is spent on IT, the more efficiently and more productively all departments function". By Kathrin Schmitt, reporter, silicon.de
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