Indian chief information officers would be mainly concerned with the issue of IT infrastructure during the year 2004, Gartner Inc, the research and advisory firm, said on Tuesday.
Customer relationship management and IT performance would be the other concerns of CIOs, it said.
"CIOs believe that IT infrastructure is key to delivering enterprise agility, while they expect savings in cost in this area through consolidation and outsourcing," Gartner Australasia Pty Ltd vice-president (executive programmes) Jose Ruggero told reporters in Mumbai.
Quoting a survey called 'CIO's Agenda for 2004 - an India Perspective', Ruggero said CIOs in the country were of opinion that use of information in products and services for a growth in revenue 'was a priority.'
The Indian CIOs were of the opinion that developing leadership in information systems' senior team and making information systems more service-oriented too would be high on their priorities for the year, he said.
"CIOs reveal that senior executives are now also recognising the need and opportunities for growth. Increases in total IT and business operating budgets are starting to be noticed as enterprises begin to invest for growth," he said.
"Executives remain cautious, despite the positive economic indicators, so increases in investments may take time to become a reality for all," he added.
Application integration, managing an efficient and a flexible infrastructure were also on the CIO's agenda for the next year, he said.
Commenting that IT infrastructure was not good in some areas in the country, Ruggero said that pharmaceuticals, financial and manufacturing sectors would see a rise in implementation of IT infrastructure.
Gartner expects a 6 per cent increase in installation in 2004 in the domestic market, he said.
The advisory firm had approached 20 CIOs in India and received responses from 12 officers, he added.
On the information and communication technology markets in Asia, he said that the Chinese market was much bigger than the Indian market, even though the latter was growing at a much rapid pace.
Globally, CIOs referred to security and cost control as the key business imperative and top business trends for 2004, which would be a primary reason to place a significant drag to growth on many enterprises through the year.
The survey also revealed that information systems budget growth is likely to be staggered over time.
Over 40 per cent of CIOs surveyed suggested IT growth would return to the sector in the latter stages of 2004, he said.
Enterprises expect their IT budget to grow in line with the recovery. Breaking away enterprises are already an increased investment of 6.9 per cent, but for many enterprises IT budget growth and investment would be delayed into 2004, he added.
Overall, IT budgets are set to pick up for most enterprises by an average of 1.2 per cent, while enterprises which are fighting for survival still would embark on a cost-cutting mode, he said.