Half of all senior IT managers in the world's largest
companies are re-examining their budgets at least once every 30
days, according to the latest quarterly survey of IT spending by US
finance house Goldman Sachs."More frequent evaluation of budgets suggests
that companies are in a better position than before to adjust
spending levels - whether for better or for worse - in reaction to
changes in the environment," the report said.
Some 21% of IT managers are reviewing budgets
quarterly with a further 23% saying they reassess budgets "as
business conditions change".
Goldman Sachs questioned 100 US-based IT
directors from the top 1,000 global corporations, but Martha
Bennett, vice president of Giga Information Group, said the
findings mirrored what was happening in the UK and Europe.
"You can't make changes to long-term IT
projects on a monthly basis, but monthly reviews are prudent
management," said Bennett. "They are in line with most
organisation's budget and board meetings and help you avoid nasty
surprises and react quickly to events."
She highlighted a growing trend of IT
directors holding budgets that they are not allowed to spend fully
and noted the demise of the end-of-year rush to spend up to budget
limits. IT directors now get kudos with the board for giving back
money to the business, she said.
The Goldman Sachs survey revealed no signs of
an upturn in corporate IT spending in 2003, with security software
and wireless LAN projects remaining the top priority for managers.
For the first time, VPN debuts as a category separate from
security.
David Roberts, chief executive of the UK
Corporate IT Forum, said this mirrored priorities among UK
blue-chip companies. He also suggested that IT departments could
face legislation, related to security and data protection, which
might make an increased call on IT budgets.
The survey found Linux has been deployed by
53% of respondents, a significant increase from the 39% of
participants who were planning to increase Linux deployments in
Glodman Sachs' survey last October.