And when it comes to technology, the buzzword for 2006 will be virtualization, according to Gartner senior vice president Peter Sondergaard.

"For three years we have seen positive growth in the IT industry globally; it grew 5.4 percent this year and will rise to 5.6 percent next year," he said.

"At the same time IT budgets grew 2.5 percent and will go to 3 per cent globally next year."

Sondergaard said the hot technology trends include virtualization, wireless and service oriented architecture (SOA).

Tim Cope, chief information officer at University of New South Wales in Australia, said cost is no longer the focus for IT; the discussion has shifted to creating value.