Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Backup/Recovery

Most Reg readers don't expect to see their IT budgets cut next year, and nearly one third of you are expecting your IT budgets to be increased for 2008.

The findings, from the latest Reg Technology Panel Barometer study, suggest the financial market shake up we're witnessing might not hit the tech market as hard as some feared.

Topping the list for companies of every size are general infrastructure optimisation projects – ensuring networks perform, that hardware is upto speed, and those pesky applications continue to deliver value when needed.

Cut into the findings across company size, however, and the priorities start to differ. For SMBs the drive online is a major priority as they start to improve their web presence and deliver greater value to the business through their online operations.

For enterprise budgets, 2008 will be all about custom application development and a heavy slice of policy and procedural developments – everything from corporate governance and compliance to security and identity management. The mid-market shows a similar pattern, with custom application development pushing in at number two. Desktop upgrades also feature heavily in the priority list.

It's interesting to note that the enterprise IT departments have a major challenge on their hands outside of the computer room, to improve and shape business processes across the whole company.

They also need to improve their image.

When asked how they think IT is perceived by users in their organisation, less than five per cent thought it was positive. That may not be surprising given that about 40 per cent of enterprise IT pros feel their IT isn't very well aligned with business objectives.

You can read all about these findings, and much more, by downloading the final report here. ®

Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Backup/Recovery