TechAmerica's annual survey of federal CIOs reveals anxieties over chronic fiscal constraints and lack of budget authority. But there's more: Add security threats and challenges of recruiting and retaining top talent to the list of CIO concerns.

First there was the fiscal cliff. Now there's the sequester. Neither caused the sky to fall, but both will have a slow, steady impact on the economy. That means CIOs should tread carefully when crafting IT budgets for the next couple years--and shouldn't be surprised to hear 'No.'

A report compiled by Microsoft and HP purports to demonstrate that the Munich city government's well-publicized switch to Linux from Windows actually cost more money than it saved has come in for a fresh round of criticism, this time from the city itself. According to a report from The H Online, city officials in Munich have said that the study makes some false assumptions to arrive at the conclusion that the Linux transition cost nearly $82 million, while the equivalent OS and productivity upgrades in a purely Microsoft environment would have cost just under $23 million.

It’s that time of year again for every CIO to reflect and think about what they want for the coming year ahead. No, this doesn't have to involve gadgets or really, really cool technology. Instead, it’s a much broader wishlist that looks at some of the common challenges facing the modern CIO.

The view of IT as ‘just another expense’ that seems to be widely held among chief financial officers is changing, according to Gartner. The research firm found that CFOs are now starting to understand that IT can help the wider business and are investing in technology.

Let's face it: Your department is a cost center without a revenue stream to offset your cost structure. Hence, you are totally reliant on the revenue-producing units within the company to pay your way.

Lately, much of the furor encircling ERP costs has revolved around software maintenance and support fees. The global recession has forced customers of Big ERP vendors-SAP, Oracle, Lawson, Infor-to question the value they receive from the fees.

CIOs are from Venus. CFOs are from Mars. And nowhere is this more obvious than at budget time.

As is the case with selling McMansions, Mercedes SUVs and 63-inch HDTVs, pushing expensive technology products and services during a global recession isn't an enviable task. Late last year, when the economic meltdown began and corporate IT budgets went under the CFO's knife, tech vendors had to hastily reevaluate their marketing messages and overhaul their sales tactics.

Enterprises facing tight IT budgets should not be looking at cost-cutting but should focus on working their under-used enterprise applications harder.