Document management and data storage is one of the top ten technology strategies for CIOs in 2010, says analyst Gartner.

A Gartner survey of 1600 CIOs around the world reveals the top ten business and technology strategies for the CIO this year, with cloud computing and virtualisation heading the technology priorities.

The analyst says IT budgets will essentially be flat in 2010, increasing by a weighted global average of 1.3%, when compared with 2009 levels when IT budgets declined 8.1%. Gartner said this year CIOs are basically working with the same level of resources as they were in 2005.

“Last year was the most challenging year for CIOs in the corporate and public sectors as they faced multiple budget cuts, delayed spending and increased demand for services with reduced resources,” said Gartner analyst Mark McDonald.

“This is set to change in 2010, as the economy turns from recession to recovery and enterprises transition their strategies from cost-cutting efficiency to value-creating productivity.”

McDonald said that while technologies are transitioning from “heavy” owner-operated solutions to “lighter-weight” services (like cloud computing), CIOs are, in turn, transitioning IT beyond merely managing resources to taking responsibility for managing results.

“Transition gives the enterprise and IT the opportunity to reposition themselves and exploit the tough corrective actions taken during the recession,” he said.