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Journalism of Courage
Top executives plan to increase spending on computer hardware and software by 4.6 per cent this year with security programmes a top priority, according to a CIO magazine poll.
About 53 per cent of the 335 executives surveyed last month said they plan to spend more on programmes to block computer viruses and other security software. The poll on computer spending plans is conducted monthly by CIO magazine, Deutsche Bank Securities Inc and Prudential Securities Inc.
Security software has been one of the few bright spots in the computer industry, which is trying to pull out of a two- year slump, as companies seek to protect data from viruses such as Nimda and Code Red and guard against hackers. Symantec Corp, whose software fends off computer bugs, had said in October that second-quarter sales rose more than expected.
About 46 per cent of executives said they plan to increase spending on computer hardware in the next year, up from 39 per cent in the November poll. About 34 per cent said they will leave spending unchanged and 20 per cent said they will reduce spending.
In most other categories, the largest response executives gave was that they plan to leave spending unchanged.
For example, 47 per cent said they will spend about the same on infrastructure software, such as databases. About 34 per cent said they will boost spending on infrastructure programmes, and 18 per cent said they will spend less.
