On data networking, this year's third top priority project for most managers, Lucas believes that the installation of this technology is very significant nowadays for a firm to achieve operational efficiency.

"There is still room for improvement in this area in order for us to achieve optimization on our current operation," he said.

The need to replace aging and slower hardware is also another priority concern that is prompting local firms to open up their vaults this year. "We started installing brand new PCs, workstations, and servers two months ago as replacements for old ones that the company spends much on maintenance expenses," recounts Diaz He also noted that hardware replacement must be done to cope with the present software requirements of the company and to maximize users' efficiency.

With many organizations planning changes in major applications and operating systems, one area that is likely to receive a huge share of the IT budget this year is the deployment and development of new software.

Aside from hardware, Diaz disclosed that they are also installing Windows 7, Office 2010, and AutoCAD 2012 in their computing system. They have started email and data migration, and propose security and storage as their future IT projects. With regards network convergence, which is also a top concern, Lucas relayed that "improving this area will help us achieve better communication internally and most of all, with our clients especially those that are situated in other countries."