Info-Tech Research Group regularly polls IT decision makers about their staffing and spending decisions. This information is used for IT Budget and Staffing reports that provide benchmark data for nine industry sectors. The 2007-2008 IT Budget & Staffing Reports drew on a sample of 1,712 IT decision makers. The results include a broad representation of enterprise sizes ranging from small to mid-sized to large. This report provides analysis of trends across all survey respondents and identifies critical issues that IT decision makers should consider in their budgetary planning. Findings and analysis are grouped into three sections:

• Make Wise Use of External Benchmarks. Info-Tech's Budget and Staffing reports provide a rich and detailed view of staffing and spending patterns across nine industry verticals. New benchmarks included estimated increase/decreases in spending and staff as well as staff turnover estimates. There is also a new size variable – number of PCs. However Info-Tech recommends that great care be taken in using this data. Five key principles for benchmarking will be reviewed.
• Moderate Spending Increases amidst Strong Growth. IT departments are increasing their spending by a moderate 4.5% overall in 2007-2008. Overall revenue growth has been strong. Primary Industries, Business and Professional Services, and Financial Services are more likely to be increasing spending. Government and Education sectors are least likely to be increasing spending. We'll look at how growth impacts budget flexibility and spending patterns.
• Innovators and Integrators Associated with Higher Revenues. Innovators focus on the use of technology to improve competitiveness and enterprise revenue potential. Innovator IT departments spend more per employee than those focused on cost control and Info-Tech finds that innovators are associated with enterprises with higher revenues. However, innovation may not be paying off as much as it could. Integration of complex infrastructures also has had a greater effect of reducing IT spend relative to revenue as well as IT staff relative to total staff.