IT Budget Outlook for 2014 Looks Bright
-
Organizational IT Budget for 2014
Optimism for the coming year is probably the highest in recent memory. Increase: 63%, Stay the same: 26%, Decrease: 12% -
IT Confidence
There is no shortage of confidence when it comes to meeting business demands. Confident: 66%, Neutral: 21%, Unconfident: 6%, Don't know: 7% -
Areas of Spending Increases
A lot of organizations are putting their reliance on external IT resources. Consulting: 50%, Application project services: 49%, Staff augmentation services: 47%, Infrastructure project services: 46%, Training: 41% -
Most Critical IT Skills
The ability to execute comes down to the quality of the IT staff. Programmers and developers, Project managers, Help desk and technical support, Software engineers, Architects -
Most Difficult Roles to Fill
The skills shortage raises its ugly head. Programmers and developers, Architects, Software engineers, Business analysts, Project managers -
Most Important Business Objectives for 2014
Despite the era of the cloud, IT applications and infrastructure still rule. Implementing new IT applications and infrastructure, Improving business processes, Improving existing IT applications and infrastructure, Delivering operational results -
Trends That Will Have the Biggest Impact in 2014
Big data amplifies the importance of business intelligence. Business intelligence and big data, Security, Mobile, Cloud computing, Virtualization -
Percentage of Spending Change in 2014
Mobile and cloud are often two sides of the same coin. Mobile: 62%, Cloud: 59%, Security: 59%, Storage: 51%, Business intelligence and big data: 51% -
Biggest Challenge for 2014
The best-laid plans fall apart when revenue projections fall short. Revenue: 82%, Operations: 68%, Customers: 61%, Employees: 60% -
IT Staff Salaries
Most organizations are planning to keep a lid on salaries. Increase by 10 percent: 4%, Increase by 6 to 9 percent: 6%, Increase by up to 5 percent: 71%, Stay the same: 18%, Decrease by up to 5 percent: 1% -
Areas Where IT Salaries Will Increase the Most
Competition for talent will be keen almost everywhere., Programming and development: 69%, Software engineers: 67%, Project managers: 67%, Architects: 65%, Security: 65% -
Changes to IT Head Count
Almost half of organizations expect to be hiring more in 2014. Permanent IT Worker Increase: 47%, Temporary IT Worker Increase: 46%
Heading into 2014, organizations are starting to realize that IT is now more strategic than ever before. In an era where mobile, social networking, cloud computing and big data are all converging at the same time, many organizations have realized they need to raise their IT game to stay competitive. A new survey of 900 IT leaders in the U.S. and Canada conducted by the IT services firm TEKsystems finds that realization is leading to new levels of optimism about IT budgets that hasn't been seen since the Great Recession began. However, the biggest issue facing IT leaders is hiring the right talent, especially programmers and developers, to execute their IT strategies. This shortage of skill talent also appears to be driving more reliance on external services than in the past. Even still, IT leaders say they are committed to increasing head count and, despite larger investments in the cloud, are continuing to invest in new applications and IT infrastructure. While a sudden downturn in the economy could adversely affect those plans, it's starting to look like 2014 might be shaping up to be one of the best years for IT in recent memory.