CIOs expect budgets to increase 3.3% in 2015, the buggest jump since the 2008 financial crisis.
Based on a survey by CEB, companies will allocate 17% of their IT budget to digital channels and technologies that ‘touch’ the customer, such as mobile applications.
The survey also highlights how CIOs are now maintaining a flexible budget process, with as much as 30% of their IT budget devoted to unplanned business needs and funding fast-developing roles
Andrew Horne, managing director at CEB said, "Today, nearly 75% of a company’s priorities hinge on technology – whether that’s using data to enhance a product or service, or adopting a new digital business model – meaning IT will work more closely than ever with functional leaders to drive corporate performance. In 2015 CIOs will focus on making IT quicker to adapt to rapidly changing digitization opportunities, and prioritizing investment in improving the digital customer experience."
The 2015 IT Budget Benchmark Survey also highlighted how universal the cloud is becoming in business, with 91% of IT organisations allocating spending to the cloud. The depth of deployment has also increased, with more companies allocating at least 6% of spending to cloud solutions.
The survey findings indicated that investment in mobile applications is now widespread, with 81% of organisations invested in mobile applications development in 2014, but spending remains low at 1% percent of the total IT budget.
