CIO Magazine IT Economic Impact Study Shows IT Investments Remain Stable but Confidence Is Waning

FRAMINGHAM, MA--(Marketwire - Sep 7, 2011) - IDG's CIO, the executive-level IT media brand providing insight into business technology leadership, reveals the CIO Magazine IT Economic Impact results for August 2011. The study shows that IT investments remain stable despite the recent events affecting the economic recovery; however participants are being cautious when making these decisions.

The survey, completed by more than 181 heads of IT from a range of industries, states that almost half (46%) are maintaining their IT spending plans even with the economic events (i.e. downgrading of US bond rating, European economic instability) of the past month. Eighteen percent (18%) anticipate that some IT spending plans could be impacted, while 36% have already reduced/frozen at least a portion of their spending. The IT areas that are expecting a spending decrease in the next twelve months are lead by IT contractors and consultants (34%) and travel (34%), while salaries (83%), training (82%) and head count (76%) are planning to increase or remain the same in the next twelve months.

"Even though IT confidence has dipped, IT spending will continue to be an area where businesses invest," said Michael Friedenberg, president and CEO of IDG Enterprise. "The ability to save money, make money, and deepen customer engagement through the use of IT is essential for success in today's global economy. Overall, IT will continue to be a bright spot in an otherwise difficult economy."

Key findings include:

• The recent stock market volatility is not impacting overall investment plans for the majority of respondents (58%).
• While respondents are still increasing investments in IT, the percent of those increasing spending has decreased since April 2011.
• Discretionary IT spending is holding steady, with the majority (41%) keeping budgets flat.
• Investments in Web/Mobile (45%), Applications (41%) and IT Compensation Costs (35%) continue to increase, compared to the past 12 months.

The August study was fielded as a follow up to the CIO Tech Poll in July 2011, showcasing IT areas of investment, including:

• Sixty-five percent (65%) of organizations allow or facilitate employee's use of personal computing devices for work.
• Top areas for investments include cloud computing services (62%), BI & analytics (57%), hardware infrastructure: tablets (55%) and mobile/wireless (54%).
• Top technologies that are actively being researched are cloud computing services, business process management, desktop PC virtualization and enterprise data management.
• Top IT investments and technologies being researched do not align.

To review the full results contact Adam Dennison, VP/Associate Publisher, CIO at adennison@cio.com.

About CIO Magazine Economic Outlook
The CIO Magazine Economic Outlook study is conducted twice a year, among heads of IT, to gauge which technology areas are the focus of IT in the coming year and to measure the direction of spending within those areas. The current CIO Magazine Economic Outlook was conducted between August 23, 2011 and August 31, 2011 through the CIO Forum on LinkedIn. Results are based on 181 respondents who indicated they are the top IT executive at their organization or business unit.

About CIO
CIO produces award-winning content and community resources for information technology executives and leaders thriving and prospering in this fast-paced era of business, as well as creates opportunities for information technology and consumer marketers to reach them. The CIO portfolio includes CIO.com, CIO magazine (launched in 1987), CIO Executive Programs and the CIO Executive Council. CIO properties provide business technology leaders with analysis and insight on information technology trends and a keen understanding of IT's role in achieving business goals. The U.S. edition of the magazine and website are recipients of more than 200 awards to date, including the American Society of Business Publication Editor's Top B-to-B Magazine since 2000 and Website of the Year in 2010 and two Grand Neals from the Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Awards. CIO websites and printed publications appear in more than 25 countries, including Australia, Canada, Finland, India and Sweden. CIO Executive Programs -- a series of face-to-face conferences including the CIO 100 Awards & Symposium™ -- provide educational and networking opportunities for pre-qualified corporate and government leaders. The CIO Executive Council is a professional organization of CIOs created to serve as an unbiased and trusted peer advisory group. CIO is published by IDG Enterprise, a subsidiary of International Data Group (IDG), the world's leading media, events, and research company. Company information is available at www.idgenterprise.com.