60% of IT execs see IT spending rising by 2009

60% of IT executives expect their organizations to increase their IT expenditures over the next 3 years. Only 13% of respondents to Accenture survey expect their organizations to reduce IT spending. The average increase in spending during the 2006 is expected to be 5.5%. 69% of executives said that IT spending at their organizations has increased in the past 3 years, 32% indicate that spending is less than it should be. Of those respondents who expect IT spending to increase over the next three years, the greatest number (21%) selected "new business initiatives" as the most important factor driving the rise in expenditures. "Upgrading legacy systems" and "adopting new technologies" followed closely, selected by 19% and 18% of those respondents, respectively.