FRAMINGHAM, MA -- A monthly poll of the nation's top information officers revealed strong signs of growth in projected IT spending.

In the April poll by CIO Magazine, released today, respondents predict spending will grow 7.9% during the next 12 months, up from 6.4% last month.

The poll was conducted from April 7-14. It marks the third consecutive month that CIOs predicted increasing spending.

Growth is forecast for software, and for equipment for telecom and data networking.

"IT budgets are starting to bloom along with the tulips," says Dr. Ed Yardeni, chief investment strategist for Oak Associates. "April's poll results suggest business may be warming up to more technology spending in the spring."

"While overall projections from CIOs are more positive this month, spending projections for computer hardware fell slightly and storage was flat," says Chris Whitmore, director, IT hardware research for Deutsche Bank. "We continue to expect most areas of hardware to experience slower growth in 2005 versus 2004. We believe the combination of rising interest rates, slowing economic growth and an aging replacement cycle will all dampen hardware growth this year." DB forecasts IT spend to grow 4 to 5% this year, versus 6% in 2004.

CIOs of companies osf less than 100 employees projected spending to rise 16.5%, versus 8.4% last month. Companies of 5,000 or more employees increased projections to 6%, versus 5% in March.