IT projects
Re-evaluating IT Spending Estimates for 2016
A crucial aspect of the TEKsystems report is a significant decline in the number of IT organizations reporting they have confidence in their ability to launch new projects.
State of IT Budgets
At the midyear mark, 48% of IT organizations report an increase in budget, vs. 37% that forecast an increase six months earlier. At the same time, only 12% expected a decline. In reality, 25% are now reporting a decline in spending. Of those reporting an increase, 17% say that increase exceeded 10% of the forecasted budget.
State of IT Confidence
At the midyear mark, 81% reported they are confident in their ability to meet demands on IT. That’s up 13 points from 68% six months earlier, but only 20% say they are now extremely confident, vs. 31% late last year.
Core IT vs. Business Demands
A full 87% say they are confident in their ability to meet core IT needs, up 12 points from the 75% reported late last year. Three-quarters (75%) also say they are confident in their ability to meet business demands, up 15 points from the 60% reported six months earlier.
New IT Initiatives Remain a Challenge
Only 39% are confident in their ability to launch a new initiative, a 15% drop from the 54% who said they were confident in their ability at the beginning of the year. Only 5% say they are extremely confident when it comes to new IT initiatives.
Technologies With Biggest 2016 Impact
Security continues to be a key IT priority; 45% cited IT security as having the biggest impact in the first half. Mobility (16%) and cloud computing (8%) came in second and third, followed by data center consolidation, ERP applications and virtualization/software-defined networking, all tied at 6%.
Biggest Areas of Talent Shortage
IT architects now hold the top slot at 52%, usurping programmers that had been previously cited to be the top talent issue, cited by 65%. In reality, developers fell to second place, at 51%, followed by project managers (43%), software engineers (40%) and big data analytics specialists (39%).
Hiring Full-Time Employees
Nearly half (48%) say the hiring of full-time employees increased, vs. 43% that forecast it would increase. Another 16% said hiring of full-time employees declined.
Reliance on Contractors
33% said reliance on contingent employees increased, vs. 41% who said they expected this to increase at the beginning of the year. Only 5% said hiring of contingent employees rose more than 10%.