CIOs squeeze OpEx to increase capital purse

Research from Gartner finds IT chiefs are making operational cuts to fund spending on major upgrades

Feeling the pinch: Operational IT budgets are expected to decline 1.3 per cent this year

Chief information officers (CIOs) are increasing capital expenditure (CapEx) at the expense of operational budgets, research from Gartner has found.

The research house recently quizzed 500 IT chiefs at private and public sector organisations across the globe about their spending expectations for this year. The survey found that IT spending is projected to grow 1.1 per cent this year, after plummeting 8.1 per cent in 2009.

Urgent refresh projects that have been put off for the duration of the recession will go ahead this year, fuelling a three per cent increase in CapEx. But, to fund these upgrades, 1.3 per cent will be excised from OpEx budgets.

Gartner also reports that budgets are becoming much more fluid, with more than a quarter of CIOs reporting that their annual purse was not finalised until the year was well underway. A further 11 per cent indicated that their budget had not been finalised at all.

Mark McDonald, head of research at Gartner Executive Programmes, claimed budgets at smaller companies are growing much quicker than those of larger organisations.

"This continues a trend we have observed since 2008 as larger IT organisations started reducing their resource requirements through consolidation, waste elimination and other measures," he explained. "CIOs of the largest organisations indicate that opportunities in these areas remain."