More than half of European IT directors expect further
redundancies at their companies over the next two years, according
to a survey of 570 IT chiefs from 12 countries.The
findings, part of research for Hitachi Data Systems European
Storage Index, found that IT directors from large corporations are
more worried about potential job cuts than their medium-sized
counterparts.
Many of
the IT directors questioned expected the continuing economic
uncertainty would also lead to changes in their IT strategy over
the next two years.
John
Taffinder, Europe executive vice-president at Hitachi Data Systems,
said, “While this sounds alarming, it is a pragmatic response to
factors that undermine medium- to long-term IT planning, such as
economic cycles, new technologies and changing business
strategies."
Taffinder
went on say that storage is now an issue of prime concern for most
organisations. “Unfortunately, for many businesses, storage has
become a point of pain, rather than a fulfilled need that allows
organisations to focus on their key business issues.”
The IT
directors are, on average, expecting to hold 16% more data on their
systems in the next year, the research found, with a third saying
they will increase the spending on storage as a percentage of the
overall IT budget.
The research was based on 570 IT director interviews, from Britain,
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands,
Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.