Although this article at Internetnews.com was about ho-hum budget growth for the IT world, after reading it, I had the stark revelation that CIOs are just plain fearful this year. The top two priorities listed are security enhancement tools and security breaches and disruptions. On top of that, 67 percent of CIOs felt at risk by their CEOs. From the article,

...As for the top 10 business and technologies priorities for 2005, Gartner found that security ranked at or near the top of both lists. Security enhancement tools clocked in as the number-one technology priority, while security breaches and disruptions were the number-two business priority noted by CIOs...

...The Gartner study revealed a number of critical challenges facing CIOs in 2005. A 67 percent majority indicated that they see themselves "at risk" from their CEO's point of view about IT. Beyond the risk to themselves, 39 percent noted that they don't have the right staff to meet current and future business needs. Staffing concerns also extended to concerns over an aging IT workforce, with 51 percent reporting they were having difficulty attracting new people with the skills for new requirements...

Wow. Tough job. Fearful from all sides.

Steve Shu