Q1 Budgets Fall, Fewer Security Experts Hired
Fewer Budget Increases
62% of IT leaders expected budget increases, but only 47% received increases. The number of leaders whose budgets are the same increased from 26% to 38%.
Budget Decreases Unchanged
IT leaders expecting decreases shifted less than 3%, from 12% to 15% compared to the 2013 Annual IT Forecast.
Confidence Prevails
More IT leaders’ budgets are flat, but the number of IT leaders confident in their department’s ability to meet business demands increased from 66% at the end of 2013 to 72% at the end of Q1.
Neutrals Decline, Low Confidence Rises
IT leaders neutral about meeting demands decreased from 21% to 15%. Those lacking confidence in their ability to meet business demands increased from 6% to 12%.
Security Experts More Difficult To Hire
IT leaders rank security, programmers, and big data experts as the three most difficult positions to fill. Business analyst remains the fourth most difficult role to fill.
Hiring Other Talent Easing up
It is less difficult to hire architects, software engineers and project managers, compared to last year.
Mobility and Security Have Biggest Impact
Mobility, security, cloud computing and big data are impacting enterprise the most. Mobility shifted from number 3 to number 1. Security remained the same at number 2.
Social Media Spikes
Social networking peaked in importance, jumping from 10th to 5th place in Q1 2014.
Full-time and Contingent Worker Hiring Increases
Only 35% of IT leaders say hiring full-time and contingent IT workers increased in Q1, possibly due to fewer budget increases.