IT budgets not keeping pace with workload increases

IT directors expect their workload to increase this year

The majority of IT departments expect to see workloads grow at a rate that exceeds growth in budgets this year, according to a survey of IT directors by recruiter ReThink Recruitment.

Two thirds of IT directors expect their workload to increase in 2010, but just under a half have major concerns about their ability to deliver results on time and within budget.

Just under a quarter of respondents had the same concerns in the survey last year, and the latest results suggest that IT departments are increasingly struggling to deal with budget cuts.

"For many IT departments this will be the second consecutive year in which budgets have not kept pace with workload demands," said Michael Bennett, director of ReThink Recruitment.

"The pressure clearly remains on IT directors to raise the output of their departments while in many cases budgets continue to be frozen or cut."

IT directors are particularly concerned that budgets will not be able to cope as projects shelved during the recession are revived.

ReThink polled IT directors from a range of blue chip FTSE 100 firms, and found that many had put off hardware upgrades during the past two years, and had hiring freezes in place.

Bennett warned that this situation will make it difficult to react to new initiatives in the workplace, and that many companies will struggle as old projects are renewed.

"Many organisations, from blue chip FTSE 100s to SMEs, will have put off upgrading outdated technology as the recession kicked in," he said. "As these mothballed projects are reviewed again, it is essential that realistic budgets are put in place."