One in four respondents to a new US corporate IT spending survey by ChangeWave Research said their company will spend less on software in coming months.

The 25 percent figure is 3 points higher than a study ChangeWave conducted in January and 11 points higher than one completed in October, indicating a deepening trend.

Meanwhile, 55 percent said their software spending will not change in the next 90 days, and just 12 percent indicated it will rise, according to ChangeWave.

Cuts to capital budgets appear to be a factor, according to the survey. Twenty-six percent of people who took it said their capital budgets had been cut over the past three months, a 4 point rise from January. In contrast, only 8 percent reported an increase in their capital budgets, ChangeWave said.

However, 27 percent reported they simply did not need to buy any new software, down two points from the January survey.

A number of major software categories, such as ERP (enterprise resource planning) and CRM (customer relationship management) applications, showed weakness moving forward.

But spending on two, virtualization and security, will see a modest jump in the next 90 days, according to the study.

ChangeWave Research, based in Rockville, Maryland, polled 1,956 people involved with corporate IT spending from April 8-15.