Managing changes in systems and processes is the most important factor UK IT directors expect to face in the next 12 months, coming top in a survey for the second year in succession.

The poll, conducted on more than 200 IT leaders by computerweekly.com at this year's IT Directors Forum, saw change management rated as the most important factor to be dealt with in the next year by 47 per cent of respondents. That put it at the top of the list of concerns for the second year running, charting as even more important this year than last, when 42.1 per cent of business leaders pointed to it as their major worry.

According to Roger Ellis, chairman of the IT Directors Network, this result should come as little surprise as the rapid pace of technological advances continues to be most keenly witnessed in business circles.

"We are seeing rapid change on all fronts, which is one of the biggest challenges to business," he said. "It will get even worse, and I do not think we have seen anything yet."

With the IT sector again seen to be facing a skills shortage, staffing issues rated as the next most pressing concern in the survey, scoring 31 per cent of the overall vote, up from 25.8 per cent in 2006.

In a recent survey of SMEs for Connect, the two most important benefits of outsourcing were 'guaranteed response times' and 'allowing in-house IT staff to concentrate on more strategic issues'