Cuts in IT budgets have prevented enterprises from winning business and have reduced their ability to take-up new technologies, according to a new study by BT’s IT services arm.

The survey of 270 CIOs, sponsored by BT Global Services, revealed that a quarter of respondents believe recessionary spending cuts have stifled innovation in their enterprise, while 23% claimed that smaller budgets have impacted on their ability to secure new business.

A high number of CIOs and senior executives who took part in the research said that ageing or inadequate IT solutions had become a barrier to their ability to "think globally" at an enterprise level.

The survey also examined attitudes towards cloud computing among CIOs, finding that over half (53%) ‘fail to see how cloud computing can save them money’.

Last month, a Gartner study showed that 62% of chief executives believed ‘IT-enabled change’ would play a key role in post-recession revenue growth, with 42% claiming that they would increase their technology budgets in 2010.