'05 kicks off with software taking the biggest bite out of IT budgets

The latest from ZDNet's monthly research into the budget priorities of IT managers shows software infrastructure spending snapping a three-month focus on IT management with 28% of the total IT budget. Current interest is focused on ERP, followed by directory services and open source projects. Investment in networking and hardware together account for about the next third of the total budget, with remaining initiatives each taking 10 percent or less. This is a big change from last month where IT management ranked number one with 21% of current spending and software was atjust 15%. It looks like the New Year brings with it a reshuffling of priorities for IT managers.