The National Computing Centre (NCC) is the single largest and most diverse corporate membership body in the UK IT sector.  It has published the findings of a survey on how companies spend money on IT.  This article below is a summary of the findings that are relevant to our readership. For the full article, see the URL below.  The information provides some benchmark or guidance on how we should budget and plan for IT.  The main point is that IT is now a major factor for improving productivity and competitiveness.   http://www.ncc.co.uk/aboutncc/press_rel/IT_Spending_2006.cfm

• Overall the median corporate IT Spend as a percentage of turnover was 2.5%, the same as last year.  The finance sector reported the highest level of spend. Other high spending sectors included transport and utilities, and business services.

• Staffing rates continue to rise with the median level of staffing up to 28.1 per 1000 end users, up 15% on last year. The finance sector typically employs 75 IT staff per 1000 end users.

• Capital expenditure on central systems has seen an increase of 5%, but there has been a consequent downturn in demand for desktops (down 8%). Windows XP has increased its dominance of the desktop with 62% of corporate desktops now featuring the operating system. Over a third of respondents expect to have some Windows Vista desktop systems in two years time.

• Respondents are forecasting a 32% increase over the next two years in portables, which would give mobile devices a 29% share of all computing spend. The proportion of staff with PDA is expected to rise 97% in two years.

• The rapid convergence of IT and telecoms continues with Voice over IP being cited most frequently as the development activity. Customer Relationship and Document Management applications also remain key technologies under development