Businesses see downturn as chance to invest in IT

Research from VAR Centralis finds UK end users have no intention of slashing IT spend

69 per cent said IT spending within their organisations will increase or remain unchanged

A survey carried out by consultancy Centralis has found that two-thirds of UK companies in both the private and public sector see the economic downturn as an opportunity to invest in new IT projects.

Sixty-nine per cent of respondents said IT spending within their organisations will increase or remain unchanged during the remainder of 2009 and into next year.

The implementation of flexible working was also popular, with almost a third of companies stating they will use technology to support such policies within the next year.

Ewen Anderson, managing director of Centralis, said: “Organisations are looking for increased value for their IT investment, and clearly see virtualisation as a way of supporting business agility.

“This allows the implementation of policies such as flexible working, providing a secure way for staff to work offsite and reducing costs in tough economic times by enabling initiatives such as shared services and branch office consolidation.”

In addition, 81 per cent said they see virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and application streaming as the most likely areas for investment.