However, two senior IT chiefs disputed his claims and argued that although innovation is important; driving down costs is still a priority in these austere times.

"What I find most frustrating as an analyst who specialises in enterprise IT, is how CIOs relentlessly focus on cost reduction in every contract renewal cycle. I think that this chokes both innovation and blue sky thinking," said Kirchheimer, practice leader of the enterprise team at analyst firm .

"I think people need to put aside costs and think a bit more about the way the network can enable them to do business in a new way," he added.

"I don't know when this is going to change, but I wish I could plant a seed in the head of every CIO and finance director asking them to stop beating up the suppliers. You need to keep them keen, but that shouldn't be your top goal if you are a CIO".

Kurt Frary, ICT architecture manager at , disagreed with Kirchheimer and argued that in the public sector it is impossible to avoid driving down costs.