Baseline has an article discussing the survey released by the Society for Information Management on sept. 18.

Key Highlights:

51.8 percent of those surveyed said 2007 IT budgets would be higher than 2006 IT budgets, with 32.8 percent expecting flat budgets.The remainder, or 15.3 percent, expect 2007 budgets to be lower than 2006 levels.

2007 budgets, respondents said 33.9 percent will be spent on internal staff, 14.6 percent on software and 14 percent on hardware. Among other categories, 9.3 percent will be spent on outsourcing staff domestically, and 3.3 percent of funds will go offshore.

36.7 percent of respondents said they will hire more people than in 2006, with 35.2 percent adding that the number of employees will be flat compared with 2006. The remaining respondents said they expect to employ fewer IT workers in 2007 than they did in 2006.

Of CIOs surveyed, 17.3 percent have been on the job for less than a year. The average tenure is 3.6 years. Longevity, however, is possible, as 13.4 percent of CIOs surveyed have held their position for 11 to 14 years.

Of CIOs surveyed, 74 percent said their IT organization is centralized, with 10.3 percent reporting that they are decentralized. The remainder work at federated organizations, with big units each having their own CIO.

Source: 1

Prashanth Rai