Teneo predicts managed services increase as customers unfreeze budgets

IT heads still face frozen budgets but are looking to invest in improving productivity, according to a new survey conducted by infrastructure optimisation vendor, Teneo.
60 percent of IT heads surveyed stated that their IT budgets were still frozen – over two years on from the start of the economic downturn. One in five (20 percent) were more optimistic and reported increased IT budgets but the same number (20 percent) stated that their budgets were currently being reduced.
Says James Hall, marketing director atTeneo: “Although budgets remain frozen for many IT heads, we are seeing a radical slowdown in the trend for budget decreases and it is encouraging to see them increasing for one in five.”
The survey also shows that IT heads are now more ready to invest in technology which will boost network infrastructure productivity. Over the next 12 months, virtualisation management tops the investment wish list for 43 percent of respondents, change/configuration management is next with 37 percent and application performance management was selected by 31 percent of respondents.

To overcome budget shortfalls, reduce capital expenditure and total cost of ownership, 52 percent of IT heads surveyed are planning to increase their use of selected managed services. Outsourcing network infrastructure management was the priority for 37 percent of IT heads, one in five (20 percent) are planning to use a managed WAN optimisation service and 17 percent are planning to increase the use of software as a service (SaaS) or cloud computing offerings.