As the economy regains its footing, companies are striving to be more efficient, competitive and productive all the while through increased IT investments. According to a recent survey by Windows IT Pro, 58% of companies plan for increased IT capital spending in the next 12 months.  The survey results also reveal 80% of companies indicate new or enabling technologies are the main catalyst for the increased spending. 

"This survey shows that investment in technology, even in this economic environment, is seen as a key to performing more efficiently and effectively, yet IT departments are still faced with big hurdles, while companies are committed to IT investment they ironically are still plagued by limited budgets and trying to keep up with the fast paced technological changes in the industry," said Peg Miller, publisher and technology market leader of Penton Media. 60% of those surveyed indicated limited budgets and expanding responsibility as their biggest stressor.

Increased spending seems to be driven by a shift to cloud computing and virtualization, the need for operating system upgrades, and the proliferation of security threats companies have been faced with. The flexible cost model cloud computing offers seems to be one of the biggest drivers to the cloud. While more companies currently use Google Apps over Microsoft 365, plans to deploy Office 365 in 2012 are higher than those planning   Google Apps deployments.  

Other notable findings from the study include:

• 53% indicated improving IT security and managing infrastructure as a top priorities in 2012
• 45% plan for operating system upgrades in 2012
• 71% plan for IT capital increases because of hardware and software obsolescence
• 30% of small companies plan to deploy Microsoft Office 365 in 2012; while 22% of large companies plan for Office 365 implementations
• Reliability is more important than price and features when it comes to selecting IT products and services