IT directors' barometer set to fair

IT directors are planning to increase their budgets over the course of 2002 as the first signs of a recovery in the market begin to emerge.

Exclusive research conducted by RoperNOP Technology in association with silicon.com in the UK and CMP in America found that IT decision makers in both countries expect a four per cent increase in IT investment in 2002.

Almost four in five are confident that IT investment will move upwards over the next three years.

Networking equipment, systems software and enterprise servers were all key areas mentioned for driving this longer-term increase in IT investment.

US respondents also mentioned the importance of investment in desktop and laptop PCs. There was less confidence about an increase in investment for consultancy and outsourcing.

The findings come from a new RoperNOP service, called the Technology Confidence Barometer.

Richard Jameson, director at RoperNOP Technology, said in a statement: "The experience of the technology sector in 2001 has highlighted the need for a robust strategic predictor for global IT spend. In meeting this demand RoperNOP Technology has launched its Technology Confidence Barometer to track IT decision makers' confidence in short, medium and long-term expenditure. This confidence is measured across a range of specific software, hardware, networking and service sectors."

In partnership with CMP and Silicon Media Group, the publisher of silicon.com and its sister sites silicon.de and silicon.fr, 4,000 key IT decision makers will be interviewed online annually in the UK, France, Germany and the US.

The survey has been launched following a successful pilot in February and March 2002 among 600 IT decision makers in organisations ranging from SMEs to large companies.

silicon.com will be bringing you the results of future surveys as soon as they're available.