While previous economic slowdowns have resulted in severely strapped IT budgets, this has not been the case in the recent economic maelstrom, a new IBM survey reveals. In fact, the impact of the economy on IT budgets has caused 53% of organizations surveyed across 17 countries to actually increase or re-prioritize their spending, versus 37% reporting a decrease. And, despite economic conditions, more than two-thirds of those surveyed are planning or currently implementing their top IT priorities. The highest-priority technology solution, chosen by 75% of respondents, is information management. The most pressing business challenges include increasing efficiency and productivity (80%), improving customer care (74%) and better use of information (72%). In addition, a majority of firms view their primary IT provider as a technology advisor or IT and business consultant, with 25% seeing the relationship as purely transactional.

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