Covering 70 companies, the Computerworld Philippines survey was conducted by the publication's Research Group from November to December last year. For purposes of the survey, an organization's IT budget includes spending allocations for hardware, software, personnel, communications, services and other operating expenditures.

MODEST INCREASE

Generally, companies which expect budget growth in 2011 will implement modest percentage increases. Of the survey respondents who have plans of raising their budget, 59% said the increase will average from 10% to 30%, while 19% stated that the expansion will range from 31% to 50%. While 16% disclosed that their budget will go up by less than 10%, only six percent revealed that their spending will grow by more than 100%.

The plan of IT executives to hike IT budget is intended to intensify the important factors that will help them run their businesses effectively and improve their service efficiency. For Jonas Marcos B. San Luis, IT manager of Insular Life Health Care, Inc., who chose to increase their IT budget says, "Any increase or decrease in our annual budget depends greatly on the company's requirements." He points out that IT budget hikes would mean increasing salaries of deserving personnel, implementation of additional and new projects plus the provision for annual increase in the maintenance of existing hardware and software. An IT manager of an investment house who requested anonymity had this to say regarding the increase in their IT budget this year: "One of the goals of our company for 2011 is to boost our Treasury Group which provides money market services. This would entail increase in manpower, setup of new local area network (LAN) connections, additional subscription for communication lines, acquisition of computers, software licenses and trainings." She also adds that replacements for existing computers, servers and printers, if found defective, are also considered in the budget.

CUT IT SPENDING