IT budgets to hit five-year high in 2015

Analyst forecasts 'bright' year ahead

Global IT budgets are expected to reach a five-year high next year, according to CEB, which claims annual spending growth could reach the five per cent mark.

The London-based advisory firm anticipates that budgets will growth 3.3 per cent in 2015, but said that as the months unfold and new opportunities emerge, the figure could rise to as much as five per cent.

It said next year would be "bright" and that IT departments are more optimistic about their budgets for next year than they have been over the last half a decade.

CIOs will be splashing out on more innovative IT products instead of on kit to keep the lights on, it said. In 2011, 63 per cent of CIOs' budget went on so-called maintenance spending, but this year that fell to 57 per cent.

"It's encouraging to see such a bright outlook for IT budgets in 2015," said Andrew Horne, managing director at CEB.

"One in six IT departments have taken steps to become more adaptive, such as introducing more flexible budgeting and making better use of the cloud, which allows them to reallocate around 40 per cent of their budgets to innovation and other initiatives that drive growth in 2015.

"This means they can respond more quickly to business demand and can do more without necessarily having more resources."

CEB's findings were based on responses from almost 200 businesses across the world which collectively spend £46bn on IT.