European Firms Not Focusing On IT Security Spending

Security is a primary concern everywhere, but in Europe that concern isn’t reflected in budgeting decisions. Security ranked third on the list of anticipated IT budget increases for European companies, according to a recent report from IDC (a sister company to CIO’s publisher). IDC analyst Carla Arend says this imbalance indicates that European companies are still struggling with (and spending on) the immediate needs of making their systems work and integrating data across different systems. Once those basic issues are resolved, spending on security solutions is likely to rise. The survey projects that companies in France, Germany and Italy will raise their security spending the most in 2003.