The research, conducted among 847 senior IT managers in France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US, found that the over-arching emphasis remained on value and service improvements, along with a focus on cost reduction. However, Accenture also says that there has been a definite shift in emphasis from cost-cutting to viewing IT as an innovative tool and an enabler of business growth.

The results of the survey reveal that IT is less often being viewed merely as a cost to the business – at least in the US. Over 80% of the US IT executives questioned said they gave equal emphasis to reducing cost, improving IT performance, and using IT to enable business growth. Around 20% also said that they currently use IT to drive innovation in their business.

In the UK, France and Germany, companies said they had the greatest confidence in their data protection and security operations, while Italian, American and Japanese respondents cited that as an important challenge for 2006.