A new international study by BT Global Services has revealed a quarter of senior business executives globally believe IT budget cuts have harmed profit margins and innovation, with a similar number i. e. 23% saying cuts have prevented them from winning business.

BT surveyed more than 2,400 IT users and 270 CIOs and senior executives across 13 countries including India. The results reveal that almost three fourth (73% per cent) of Indian respondents have felt the impact of reduced IT budgets since the start of the recession. IT budgets were cut in 2009 for the first time in ten years, causing global underinvestment in IT. In the survey, almost 63% of the executives feel that India has passed the worst of the recession.

Jeff Kelly, CEO of BT Global Services, said: "This research provides a snapshot into the current mindset of global CIOs and senior executives, and it will hopefully act as a spur to action on key issues such as the role IT plays in driving global business success."

Looking to the future, it seems there is a reluctance to invest stringent IT budgets in new technologies such as cloud computing. More than half of CIOs globally (53%) fail to see how cloud computing can save them money, even though the cloud delivery model is designed to reduce or eradicate capital expenditure requirements.