CRM among top IT priorities for 2002: What's hot this year? Global companies plan to invest in information security, content management and CRM applications this year. (Technology Trends).

Customer relationship management (CRM), security and content management tools will be top information technology priorities for Latin American businesses in 2002. Industry surveys indicate that companies are striving to manage their customer data more effectively, while protecting their business information and corporate networks from threats.

A recent Gartner survey of 1,500 chief information officers worldwide indicated that CRM and other application infrastructure projects will rank high on the list of IT investments this year. Security enhancement and content management solutions were also top priorities for CIOs, along with network management tools and e-enabling technologies.

Companies throughout the Americas will also be investing in IT tools to operate more efficiently and compete more effectively in their industries. An IDC study indicates that nearly half of North American organizations will be increasing their IT budgets in 2002. Smaller companies are more likely to increase their IT budgets than larger organizations, and the average increase in their budgets will be greater than for midsize and large companies.

One key indicator of continued IT investment in Latin America: Shipments of PCs to the region surpassed 7.4 million units in 2001, a 7.6 percent increase from 2000, according to Dataquest Inc., a unit of Gartner Inc. PC revenue totaled $7.35 billion in 2001, a 3.2 percent decline from 2000.

"Mexico's PC performance in the fourth quarter was beyond expectations, considering the country's slowing economy," said Luis Anavitarte, vice president and research director for Gartner Dataquest's Latin America group. "There was strong demand, especially from the government sector."

Looking at today's technology landscape, Gartner analysts said the important message is that the difficult decisions required in today's challenging business environment shouldn't be taken at the expense of the future.

"Although money is tight, businesses that continue to experiment with new technologies, however judiciously, are more likely to gain advantage in a couple of years than those that neglected their future," said Andrew Rowsell-Jones, research director for Gartner. "When the next upturn arrives, businesses will not be well-equipped to exploit new ideas and new business models if plans are not being laid and understanding developed now."

Other projections for 2002 from recent Gartner studies:

* Security, privacy and safety will remain a top IT concern.

* Businesses will continue to view CRM as a critical component of corporate strategy.

* Outsourcing expenditures will increase as a way to transfer assets, forgo capital expenditures and reduce costs.

* Businesses will approach 2002 conservatively, focusing on short-term return on investment.

* Leading-edge businesses will intensively pursue integration of applications both inside and outside the enterprise.

"We found that across industries, geographies and businesses, the potential for IT as an engine for efficiency, growth and opportunity will remain undiminished in 2002," said David McCoy, vice president and research director for Gartner. "However, we also found that external forces such as the evolving business climate and unpredictable international events will significantly impact how companies view the role technology plays within their business."

The bottom line: Some enterprise applications like CRM have strong potential in good times and in bad, and these types of IT investments are too important to be derailed.