The monthly CIO Magazine Tech Poll released projections for IT spending in 2006, Results of the survey can be downloaded from here, Below are a few excerpts from the same.

CIOs are now predicting that their IT spending will increase by 7.8% over the next 12 months, up from predictions in November that it would rise 5.7% this year. CIOs in October had projected that IT spending in 2006 would rise by 5.2%.

"As 2005 draws to a close, the dark cloud over IT spending is finally lifting with 69.8% of CIOs reporting planned IT spending increases in 2006. These results substantiate our continued reports that a spending turnaround is in effect," says Gary Beach, Group Publisher of CXO Media, the company that publishes CIO magazine.

"The upswing in our poll over the last three months of 2005 is an encouraging sign for IT spending in 2006," says Dr. Ed Yardeni, Chief Investment Strategist for Oak Associates.

"December's poll suggests overall IT spending expectations are improving and that CIOs will increase spending in computer hardware and storage," says Chris Whitmore, Director, IT Hardware Research for Deutsche Bank Securities. "In addition, the largest firms have become more optimistic on spending, which we view as a positive indicator for IT spending heading into the new year."

In the December Poll, panelist projected IT budgets to grow by 7.8% over the next 12 months, up from 5.7% in November's poll. CIOs further report that IT budgets increased by an average of 7.0% over the last 12 months, up from 4.6% last month. When asked about spending on eight specific IT categories, the average number of panelists who plan to increase spending over the next 12 months was 40.7% in December, up from 39.3% in November. Security software remained the strongest sector in the poll with 50.9% of respondents planning to increase spending in this category, down from 53.2% in the November poll. Storage continued to be the number two priority with 49.7% of respondents planning to increase spending in this category, up from 49.1% in November.

Source: 1Prashanth RaiTag(s):CIO, IT+Spending