Leader: Introducing... CIO Agenda

As many businesses and the IT industry in general begin to wind down towards Christmas thoughts invariably turn to reflecting on the past year and looking forward to the next.

This year, as well as looking at what the leading analysts are predicting for 2005, silicon.com has polled a panel of CIOs to find out what's hot and what's not for IT chiefs this year.

Given the small sample size - a dozen - it's more of a 'finger in the air poll' than a scientific study but over the next week we'll be looking at the key themes to emerge from it in a series of articles we're calling CIO Agenda.

The first one today examines the technologies CIOs will be using in 2005 to support their business strategies and, while security topped the list by some way, other technologies such as RFID and wireless were dismissed as over-hyped.

In the coming weeks we'll be looking at whether IT budgets are going up or down and how much money is being focused on new IT investment as opposed to simply keeping things ticking over. Finally, we'll review CIO-specific issues and their evolving relationship with the business.

Some themes you will see emerging are of huge business change programmes that are underpinned by an IT strategy that involves standardising and simplifying systems, often on a worldwide scale.

The phrases 'reduce costs' and 'stability' will crop up frequently, although for others on the panel, such as Abbey CIO Bill Gibbons, 2005 will be an exciting time of significant change as the bank undergoes an integration process following the merger with Spanish bank Santander. Others are affected by market-specific issues, such as the National Programme for IT in the NHS.

Along with the technology and business themes, staff retention and recruitment are high on the agenda as businesses restart big IT projects that have previously been put on hold. That means IT staff will be in demand again, although outsourcing - and offshoring - are also here to stay.

Follow the CIO Agenda articles on silicon.com over the coming weeks to find out what really matters for the UK's IT chiefs in 2005.