Gartner Says IT Budget Growth Remains Unchanged in Q1

Despite economic concerns, global enterprise IT budget growth remains unchanged at 3.3 percent in 2008, according to a worldwide survey of 1,011 CIOs conducted in the first quarter of 2008 by Gartner, Inc.

While 62 percent of CIOs reported no change in their 2008 IT budgets, 23 percent indicated a decline in their budgets, and 15 percent of respondents reported an increase in their budgets. Of those respondents reporting a decline in budget, the decrease averaged at 10 percent in their committed 2008 budget. For those respondents that reported an increase in their budget, they said the increase was approximately 15 percent.

The study conduced from February 12, 2008 to March 12, 2008, sought to gauge the potential impact of macroeconomic concerns on IT budgets. Respondents were asked to report any changes in their 2008 IT budget since they finalised it.

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“Overall, the majority of CIOs reported no change in their 2008 committed budgets. This indicates that IT budgets are not the ‘target rich’ environment for cost cutting they have been in the past,” said Mark McDonald, group vice president and head of research for Gartner Executive Programs.

Geographically, IT budgets continue to exhibit growth in regions like Europe (+3.86 percent) and Asia/Pacific (+5.98 percent). The strength of European and Asian CIOs in their economies is reflected anecdotally in their response to this study.

CIOs were asked about their contingency plans. Only one-third (32 percent) reported having contingency plans for 2008. “Given economic conditions, CIOs should be prepared and have a contingency plan for both increases and decreases in the next 90 days (by the end of the second quarter of 2008),” McDonald said.