A new year brings renewed optimism, and CIOs are entering 2005 confident they can use technology to bring real improvements to their businesses, according to a survey of IT chiefs.

Analyst group Gartner questioned 1,300 CIOs with a cumulative IT spend of $57 billion and found average budgets would increase by 2.5% this year. With that modest boost comes the command to support business growth, after years of focusing on using IT to deliver cost reduction through operating efficiencies.

“CIOs must deliver more value and become a contributor rather than a commodity,” says Gartner’s Marcus Blosch. The shift towards improving business processes and business intelligence has been driven by rising expectations of greater profitability, faster innovation and growth. Security breaches and disruptions were also cited as a business priority.

But human factors are presenting the biggest challenges. Only 39% believed they had the right personnel to meet business needs and two thirds felt ‘at risk’ due to the CEO’s view of IT and its performance.