Budgeting for information technology

This paper examines patterns in the budgeting of information technology (IT). Using an econometric time-series model of budgeted versus actual spending, the paper explores, in the context of healthcare settings, the relationship between past, present, and future budgets with past, present and future spending for IT and non-IT variables. The results show a distinct difference in the patterns of budgeted and actual spending across IT and non-IT variables. Notably, actual IT capital spending does not correlate significantly with past or budgeted IT spending. These results signal a need for more research in the design of IT budgets.